


Steal Your Heart

by PotatoSlayer



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-01-14 19:30:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18482893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoSlayer/pseuds/PotatoSlayer





	1. 4/11

_ Some legends are told _

_ Some turn to dust or to gold _

_ But you will remember me _

_ Remember me, for centuries _

A flood of bodies warmed in the small area, surrounded on all sides by grassy hills.  Screams rose up as warms waved around, following the sway of the crowd and the beat of the music.  As the screams echoed in the small valley, reaching the stage, they were all calling the same words.

Nightmare Daydream.

_ And I can't stop till the whole word knows my name _

_ 'Cause I was only born inside my dreams _

A dark cavern lined with prison cells.  There was no sound except the hard clank of heels strutting down the interior path.  Prisoners gripped the bars of their cells, reaching out, trying to grab at the walking woman but she was far out of their reaches.  She didn’t even pause or give them a second look.  She was a woman on a mission.  At the final cell she stopped and looked into the black cramped room.  Her dark blue curly hair reached past her shoulders, some locks falling into the black collar of her jean jacket.   Between her ruby red lips was a cigarette barely held in by her lips.  Her red eyes softened on the small black animal inside.  

It opened it’s big blue eyes opened and looked up at her, the sparkle of desperation shimmering within them.

The woman reached in and rubbed the top of it’s head.  “Hold on just a little longer, okay, little guy?”

“Did you hear?  A local band from here won one of those big competitions the other day!”

“No way!  So our home town now has a popstar?”

“Haha!  They’re a long way from popstar but they’ve definitely caught some eyes.  They had their first public concert the other day.  Some videos are up on youTube.”

“Sweet.  I’ll check it out.”

“Oh, on another note… did you hear there was another accident with –“

** 4/11 **

** Morning **

 

Asa Sue walked down the hallway with her friends, bright and early for the school day.  They were all dressed properly in their school uniforms and walking close enough their shoulders brushed.  The girl beside her was a tall brown haired girl with a half buzz cut, green eyes and piercings all over her face.  The boy on her right was shorter with thick black glasses and solid frame.   As they walked along, there were smiles on their faces, exchanging stories about what happened in the days between they last saw each other.  On the opposite side of the hall, a woman with blond and silver hair was gossiping with two other tall, attractive high school girls.

The two groups of girls passed by each other without a passing glance.

As the bell rang, Asa waved off her two friends and turned into her classroom.  As all the students got into their seats, Asa’s gaze went to her reflection in the window.  Her blue-black hair was short and curled in the perfect way around her face while her piercing red eyes stared back at her.  They matched the red accents of the black and white plaid uniforms they were all required to wear.  Though her face was lean, her cheeks were round and rosy, but she supposed that added to the look that made her the pop idol she was.

A girl with long brown hair in a low pony tail ran up to her, placing a newspaper down on Asa’s desk.  “You did it!  I read the article as soon as it came in!  Your band rocked it!  And you sounded Ah-mazing!  I’m so jealous!  My boyfriend is from out of town and totally doesn’t believe I go to school with you.  Can… I take a selfie with you?”

Asa forced a smile on her lips.  Popularity wasn’t her interested, but her band-mates were the ones that wanted to take their hobby to the stage.  She couldn’t believe that they were starting to make such a wave in the industry.  Nodding her head slowly, the girl tucked in close, holding her phone out in front of them.  Making a peace sign, the flash nearly blinded Asa but she blinked it away – only to find a crowd now swarming her, asking for the same.

Letting out a disgruntled noise, she started to protest but the teacher entered the room and started class before she had to make a move.  A relieved breath left her lips before her cheek fell into her hand, glaring at her glass reflection.  “None of these punks even knew I existed before I got famous.  Now they won’t leave me alone…”

From behind Asa, she could hear a couple students gossiping to each other.  She didn’t pay much attention at first until she heard them talking about a new student.  

“Did you hear about the new transfer student?”

“Oh yeah, Mishima said he heard from another student that the new guy is a criminal.”

“What?”

“For real.  He’s got assault charges.  The guy is a serious felon.”

“Whoa, did he go to jail?”

“I bet so.”

“Why would they let a dude like that come to our school?”

“I bet they – “

“Shut up.”  Asa hissed, turning around in her seat.  “The poor kid hasn’t even been here for a day and you’re already spreading rumors around him?  You bastards are gonna eat him alive.”

The two girls squeaked in fear and flinched away.  “You don’t have to yell Asa-chan!”

The girl sitting a few desks over yelled back at Asa, “Why don’t you be quiet yourself, Asa?  Just cause you’re a pop idol doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want.  You don’t get special treatment and you should be paying attention while class is going.”

Asa narrowed her eyes.  “How hypocritical of you,  Talliya .  Just yelling at me and not your bratty best friends starting trouble?”

The female teacher clapped her hands, getting everyones attention back to the front as she stated, “All of you should be focusing up here instead of at each other, understood?  But  Talliya  is right, Asa-chan.  You need to spend your time wisely here since you’re so busy outside of school.  It won’t excuse poor grades.”

“My grades are – “

“Sit down.  Now.”

Asa pursed her lips and dropped back down in her desk, returning her glare back out the window as she heard the girls behind her finish their gossip with, “Not like it matters.  I heard the new student hasn’t even shown up yet.”

“Whose class is he supposed to be in?”

“Ours.”

** Lunchtime **

By the time lunch rolled around, the school was abuzz.

Without even seeing them, rumors spread so fast that she knew the new transfer student had shown up just after 4 th  period along side the well-known trouble-maker, Sakamoto.   There wasn't anywhere Asa could go without hearing someone gossiping about him.

"He has some nerve just showing up like this."

"So that's him?  The guy with the record?"

"Drinking, smoking, theft, I've heard that guys' done it all..."

"What if you get wrapped up in something because of him?  It's best to just stay away."

"Everyone's scared of him."

"Don't look him in the eye."

Asa gritted her teeth.  This school was infuriating.  She gritted her teeth and crossed her arms as they waited in line for the food.

Barry  beside her gave her a nudge in the upper arm, "What's with you Asa?  You're not usua l ly this grumpy at school."

"At school?"  Asa repeated with a pointed glare at him.  "I'm never grumpy, thank you.  But I can't help it.  This shitty school..."

"What about it?  You're hopping on the school-hate train late."   Juniper  was in front of the two of them, fiddling with her tongue ring as she teased her friend. 

"He's insane man, just showing up late on his first day."

Asa's brow twitched and she pointed a finger.  "That's what's getting under my skin."

"The gossip?"   Barry  asked.  "That happens every day though."

"Yeah but..."  Asa sighed as the cafeteria lady piled food on her tray and the three of them sat down around a small round table.  It could barely seat five but some tables were so filled with other students that they looked to be falling off benches.  Asa poked at her overcooked chicken nuggets with her fork and commented, "The guy has no idea what he's getting himself into.  He hasn't even shown up and I've heard a different story in every class on what his criminal record is - if he even has one.  Arson, theft, assault, under-age drinking and driving, this dude should be in jail for life if these rumors are true."

Juniper shrugged her shoulders.  "Either way, we should steer clear of the dude.  He's trouble."

"You don't know that."  Asa argued.

"Rumors all start from somewhere." Barry concurred.  "Just don't bother with it, okay?  The kid will figure things out himself."

Asa sighed and took a bite of her food as Barry and Juniper started continuing on a conversation about one of their class assignments.  However, Asa couldn't stop herself from glaring over at the table of popular girls.  Tallya, as always, was at the center of the group, girls on all sides fawning over her and her good looks.  As much as it annoyed Asa, she couldn't blame them.  She had beautiful long wavy silver hair that curled into perfect dark brown curls.  Her bright blue eyes were always swimming with life and sparkle.  Not to mention guys were always pouring over her.

Even with Asa's new-found fame there was no hope for her to capture the attention of any guy at school - at least... not for anything more than a few seconds of fame and bragging rights.  

The popular table fell silent, all their gazes pointed in the same direction.  Tallya's blue eyes were the only ones to dart away.  But the girls on either side of her were glaring right ahead at the culprit, causing the other subordinates to follow suit.

Asa searched for their target.

A young man stood at the front of the tables having just gotten his lunch.  He was a little tall, but very plain looking.  He had frizzy black hair, his school uniform ironed and properly worn, his glasses a bit large for his head, and the softest black eyes looking around the room, searching for something - anything probably.

Asa felt her heart jump into her throat.  That couldn't be...

"There he is.  The infamous transfer."  Barry stated, pointing his fork over at him.  "He's kinda cute.  He doesn't look dangerous.  Just quiet."

Juniper smacked his fork out of his hand.  "Those are the most dangerous."  She argued as the clatter rang around them.

Barry snapped at her.  "What the hell?  Go get me a clean one!"

"Go get it yourself."

"Why you!"  Barry reached across, swiping her nuggets off her tray and shoving them all in his mouth in one full bite.

"You bastard!  I'll choke you!"

Asa stood up suddenly.

Both of them stopped and looked up at her, saying her name in unison.

The moment she straightened up, the lost boy looked over at her, his black eyes smoldering into her red ones.  There was shock there, but also curiosity and maybe even... hope?  She wondered what her expression was in that moment.  In what way was she looking at him?  What was she looking for in him?  Her lips parted just the smallest bit, as though she were going to talk, but another voice came out.

One of the tall brunettes from the popular table, back of her hand to her lips started laughing out loud.  "Well look at that?  The schools' very own freakshow is interested in getting with the criminal boy.  How fitting."

Several of the students at the table laughed, but others started whispering, "No way.  She wouldn't would she?"

"Wouldn't that ruin her reputation?"

"How can she get famous if she's with a dude like that?"

"Maybe she's got a secret record too."

Asa's eyes widened in surprise and Jun stood up and shouted, "All you sluts shut your fucking mouths!  Come say that to our faces, cocksuckers!"

Asa quickly looked away from them and over at the boy who just gave her a soft but heart-breaking smile before turning away and going to the only empty table and sitting to his lunch alone.

Asa started to grab her own tray but Jun caught her wrist.  "Don't.  Don't feed those rumors.  You've been stressed out enough.  Besides, you don't owe him anything."

Asa looked down.  "Am I... only allowed to be kind to him if I've been given something from him?"

** Afternoon **

As expected, when he got to come to class, the rumors went up like wildfire.  Teh students even had so little shame that they spoke out rumors right in front of his face.  Though Asa couldn't help that when he introduced himself, as Akira Yami, it seemed that his gaze went to her more than any other student.  Something about that onyx look sent her heart fluttering in her chest.  What on earth was with this boy.  the teacher explained that he hadn't been feeling well and that's why he only attended the last half of the day.

Asa's gaze softened.  See?  All of the students were jumping to conclusions.

"He seems quiet... but I bet when he loses it..."

Asa gritted her teeth.

"I mean, he was arrested for assault, right?"

The teacher futzed about.  "Um, so... your seat will be... over there.  The one that's open."

Asa looked beside of her.  It was the open one.

"Sorry but can the nearby students please share you textbooks with him today?"  The teacher asked.

"This sucks."  one student stated.

Asa looked away.  They shouldn't even care.  She'd happily assist.  Although she never quite got a chance.  Majority of the class was lecture and the problems they ended up doing were take home assignments.

** After school **

At the end of class, Asa hurried to pack up, but without anything of his own, Akira was already out the door.  Gritting her teeth, she rushed out to catch up with him.

"Yo!  Transfer!"

Akira stopped and looked back at her, surprised that anyone was talking to him.  The rest of the hall fell silent but that didn't deter her.  She laughed, "What's with that look?  Don't hit me, okay?"

His eyes widened. "What?  I would never - "

Asa grinned more.  "I'm kidding, sorry, that's probably a sore subject, huh?"

Akira seemed unnerved.  "No, it's not...a big deal..."  He nonchalantly gla nced  around the hallway at the staring students.  "Should you... really be talking to me?"

Asa smirked.  "Let me worry about that.  Come on."  She tipped her head, motioning for him to come with her.  Confused, he followed.  As they walked, she put her hands up behind her head. "So... not feeling well, huh?  Liar."

Akira looked down.  "I didn't ask her to lie for me."

Asa smiled.  "So what's the real reason you were so late, rebel?"

"I... got lost." Akira seemed to answer hesitantly.

"Oh?  Perfect.  You don't have plans after school, right?"

"Uh, no I don't.  But I - "

"Great.  Let's head straight to the train station!"

"Why are we - "

"Just come on!"  She grabbed his arm and yanked him along until they were outside the school grounds.  Asa sighed and let go of his arm, rubbing the back of her head.  "Sorry to be so pushy.  I just hate those leering eyes."

"The other students, you mean?"

Asa nodded.  "They're so judgemental.  It's awful."  She paused and asked him.  "How was your first day?"

He looked away.  "I'm sure you can guess."

"So what'd you do?"  Asa asked directly.

His eyes widened a bit.

She pointed her finger at him.  "I'm not a fan of rumors.  So I wanna hear straight from you what the truth is."

He paused.  "I could lie.  I could tell you I did nothing."

"Then I'd believe you."  Asa told him.  I have no reason to believe what yo usay is a lie.  Besides..." Her gaze softened.  "No one with a face like yours has harmful intent."

His own eyes widened a bit before softening.  "I... was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I tried to help someone and made a mistake."

Asa stepped closer to him.  "So... because you tried to help someone, you're now labeled a criminal?  Why did you come here?"

"I was expelled from my school and sent here.  My parents gladly sent me away."

Asa paused and turned around, rubbing the side of her neck.  "I'm sorry."

"It's alright.  As long as I keep my head low... then my probation will be up before I know it."

Asa smirked a bit.  "You're not gonna slip through the cracks showing up late to school every day."

He smiled.  "That's true."

Asa flicked her head again.  "Come on."

"Where are we going, Sue-san?"

Asa blushed a bit as she smiled back at him, "I was going to show you around so you're not late again!"

"Ah, you don't need to do that!"  Akira told her hurriedly.  "I... I don't want your reputation ruined for helping me."

Asa arched a brow.  "I don't care about that crap.  Now come on."

With little more prodding, they headed to the subways where Asa showed him the quickest and most convenient routes as well as tips and tricks to remembering what to do.

** Evening **

"I hope all that helped.  Honestly, I'm not the best navigator of this city.  But it was a great excuse to get to know you better.  And to confirm my suspicion that you aren't some psychopath ready to snap."  Asa stated as they stood at the edge of the platform, waiting on the subway.

Akira smirked a bit and told her, "You're pretty... straigtforward, huh?"

Asa shrugged.  "There's enough games with all these rumors.  I don't believe in side-stepping the truth."

"That's refreshing."  Akira told her.  "Thank you.  For all of this, Sue-san.  I - "

"Asa.  Please."

"Asa-san - "

"Just Asa."

Akira blushed the softest pink and looked away.  God damn he was cute.  He fiddled about now, as though he couldn't bring himself to say it.  She giggled at his reaction.  "Come on, it's just a name."

"But it's... so informal."

"I don't care.  I'm not into that kind of stuff.  Should I call you Akira first?"

His blush worsened, making Asa laugh out loud.

He glared at her, but not rudely, just out of fluster.  "D-don't do that so casually!"

"C'mon, get payback.  Say it back."

He looked away, blushing a dark red as the sound of the train came rolling in.  "A-Asa..."

Asa giggled, slowly fading into a warm smile.  "Perfect."  She paused a moment, people shuffling towards the edge as the train came in closer.  "Akira.  This school won't go easy on you.  But... I'm on your side okay?  Please come talk to me... about anything."

His gaze sombered.  "I don't want to use - "

"You're not." Asa quickly interjected.  "I'm asking you to do this for my own personal reasons as well, okay?"

He nodded.  "A-alright."

The train came whooshing by everyone crowded in as close as they could.  It was busier now that it was time for shifts to transition.  As everyone squeezed together, Asa and Akira were started to be pushed apart, but before she got too far, Akira reached out and pulled her back to him by the arm.  In the same swift move, it wrapped around her shoulders.  He casually told her, "You're so tiny you'll just get swept away by these people."

Asa blushed hotly.  "Y-You watch your mouth!"

He chuckled and the sound caused her ears to burn.

Finally the train doors opened and the crowd began shoving in all directions.  She  heard stories about the change- over traffic being awful but she normally always went straight to studio practice right after school and was never out at this time.  She had never dreamed it would be this bad.  She was  thankful Akira was with her o r she'd probably really get sucked under and trampled.  They were shoved inside and completely to the other side of the subway, her back pressed up against the wall.  To avoid smashing her, Akira put his arms up on either side of her, protecting her from being squeezed to death by the crowd.  He actually saved a pretty decent amount of space for her, except that now he was undeniably close and she could feel his warm breath against her bangs.

"S-sorry."  He whispered.  "If I could back up, I - "

"No."  Asa stated suddenly.  She nervously reached out, placing her hands on his chest.  "I... feel more secure with you this close."

Akira's eyes widened, his blush as hot as hers was earlier.  "O-Oh..."

Asa looked down as the doors shut and she whispered, "How can... people accept such rumors at face value?  One look in your eyes and I knew...you were a good person... maybe even better than good.  Your eyes are so warm..."

His blush was only getting worse.  "Th-the same is true of you, Asa...  Not only that but... you're putting yourself on the line for me... being here with me and helping me."

Asa looked up at him.  "I can't help it.  Something about you just draws me in.  when those awful things were said in the cafeteria... you looked... so lonely..."

Akira started to respond to her when she did something entirely unexpected.  Her hands slid off his chest and wrapped around him, pulling him in even closer as she buried her head against his chest.  Her voice came out muffled through the fabric.  "The subways aren't as bad as everyone says.  At least... not with you..."

Akira was stoic, unsure what he should do, unsure if anything back would make her uncomfortable.  "I'm glad... I could make the ride better for you..."

"Do you... hate this?  Me holding onto you like this?"

"N-No!  Absolutely not.  I-I mean... not if it provides you comfort."

Asa smiled against his jacket.  "I don't want to let go..."

Akira swallowed hard.  "Y-you don't have to... but... you shouldn't be... quite so direct, Asa..."

"Why...?"  She lifted her  head  up slowly, looking up at him with fiery red eyes that felt like a warm fireplace on a late winter night.

"I... it's...making me want to be direct back..."  Akira confessed.

Asa smiled.  "I would like that, you know."

He looked up a moment and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.  He whispered, "Please forgive me..."  A moment before a hand left the wall and slid into the back of her short curly hair, cupping the back of her head and tipping her head up enough that his lips could graze hers before pressing firm yet carefully upon her own.  For some reason, the kiss didn't surprise her, but the way it made her feel did.  Her breath left her and it felt like her world was spinning.  Everything began to move so fast that her body went weak and the second she started to go limp in his hold, his other arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her in against his sturdy body.  Though, she could feel him trembling with nervousness as well.

For a moment she couldn't remember how to kiss back, and she knew it must have terrified him, but as soon as thought returned to her, she gripped the back of his jacket tighter and began to move her lips with his own.  This renewed his confidence and when he pulled away for a breath, it was barely far enough back that his breath still fell on her soft red lips before he moved back in again, kissing her with just as much passion.

After several more moments, he shyly confessed against her lips.  "I've never... met and kissed a woman in the same day before."

"Nor have I met and kissed a man."  Her gaze softened.  "Truth be told... that was my first kiss."

Akira's f ace lit up like the fourth of Ju ly.  "Wh-what!?  I-I'm so sorry!  I - "

Asa touched her lips as she looked up at him and whispered, "If you apologize, I'll hate you.  Cause that means you regret it.  Do you regret kissing me, Akira?"

"O-of course not."  He told her quickly.  "I... the way you were holding onto me... it felt... so warm... and my heart was pounding.  I couldn't... stop myself.  I needed to kiss you."

"Just as I needed to hold you... and be kissed by you."  Asa comforted.   Her gaze slowly went back up to him, drinking in the sight of his precious face, flustered, red, and unsure.   But her words seemed to calm him a bit, at least the panic and fear of making a mistake.  But the nervousness of not knowing what to do next was still plain on his face.  She slowly moved her eyes down to their feet and she reached out, carefully wrapping her fingers around his.  Where her hand was careful and slow, his fingers were desperate, capturing her in their trap as though she could escape any moment.  She asked, “Are you going to find and kiss another girl before you see me again?”

His eyes widened.  “Wh-what?  Of course not!  I – “

“Then… you want only to kiss me?”  Asa looked up at him hopefully.

Akira’s breath left his throat.  Those beautiful eyes of hers, glistening with such emotion captivated him.  He’d never seen a more attractive woman in his life.  His free hand – the one not desperately holding onto hers, reached up and his thumb traced her jawline as his fingers brushed along the edge of her hair.  “I want only to kiss you, Asa.”  He confirmed.

“So… should I ask you out or you ask me out?”  Asa continued, something about her seeming… different.  Something…softer.  Shyness maybe?  Despite how direct she was?

Akira smiled and whispered, “I guess it’s my duty to ask you.  So… would you go out with me, Asa?”

“Are you sure?  All you know about me is that I’m crazy and impulsive.”

Akira scoffed.  “And all you know about me is that I’m a criminal and love kissing you.”

A big grin spread on her lips.  “That’s all I need to know.”  She leaned up and kissed him softly on his lips.  He had just started to lean into her when the train came to a stop and doors opened.  Asa released his hand and stepped back.  With a big grin, she told him over the noise of the rushing crowd.  “This is my stop!  Get home safe, Akira!  See you tomorrow!”

Akira’s hand instinctively reached out but she was already swept away by the crowd.  As her hand waved goodbye through the air over the heads of the rushing people, he let out a sigh of happiness.  “What a unique woman…”

The woman sat with her back to the wall between the two cells.  A cigarette was between her fingers , a plume of smoke rising up, darkening her already black and exposing attire.  She rolled her deep red eyes over to look at the creature behind bars.

“I thought it was you showing up again, but I heard from the guards two guys showed up this morning.”

The woman paused at this, blowing a puff of smoke from her lips.  “Two boys huh…”

“The king appeared to recognize them.”

The womans’ eyes narrowed.  “Then they must be students…”  Surprise swept through her a moment before she clicked her tongue.  “Couldn’t be.”

“ Sorry I keep causing trouble.”  The little creature stated.  “But I’m trying to find the treasure.  This place is just so heavily guarded…”

“I know.  It makes it impossible for me to do my job.”  Her eyes narrowed as she took another puff from her cigarette .  “And keeping track of you doesn’t help.  You at least made progress?”

“A little.”

The woman stood up and walked over to the chain lever.  Pulling on it, she freed the little black cat-like thing for the hundredth time.  “I’ll be back again tomorrow, alright?  Meet in the usual place if you don’t get caught again.”

“Got it!”

Asa let the door to her home swing shut.  It was quiet.  On the table there was a note:

_ Had to run, Asa.  Got an extra shift.  I made tomorrows breakfast for you.  I know you’re busy with rehearsals.  Don’t take after your mom and wear yourself out.  Focus on grades!  I hope to see you tomorrow. _

_ ~Mom _

Asa gritted her teeth.  She had completely forgotten that her mom for once had a couple hours after school to be home.  They could have had a conversation.  But instead she’d gone running off with some strange boy.  Though, she couldn’t say she regretted it.  It had felt a lot like fate.  But she did feel guilty.

She shot her mom a quick text, reminding her that she loved her before heading up to bed for the night.


	2. 4/12

4/12

** Before School **

Asa got ready for school much quicker than usual.  She knew the reason but she couldn’t quite explain the spring in her step.  In fact, it was such a good morning she found herself humming a new toon and she ended up being slower to school than planned due to trying to write down the beat.  Lucky for her, her amazing hard-working mom already had breakfast all ready for her.   Being as quiet as she could, she walked back up the steps and opened the door to her moms bedroom.  She had never heard the woman come home, but that didn’t mean much. 

Seeing the empty bed, Asa sighed.  She was going to end up wearing herself down to nothing at this rate.  

Asa slapped her cheeks.

No!  No being down!  Today is  going to be a great day!

Akira let out a sigh of relief when he reached the school on time.  All night he couldn’t shake the feeling of showing up to the strange castle thing again like the day before.  Even now he didn’t understand how it happened… and no one was going to believe him.  The only key to it not being a figment of his imagination was – 

“There you are.”

Akira turned around to see the familiar blonde haired boy that had gone to the castle with him the day before.   He’d learned that his name was Ryuji Sakamoto.   It was obvious why teachers seemed leary of him.  He was hunched over with his hands in his pockets like a common thug and his black hair had been dyed to the commonly rebellious color.  His expression seemed to always be a scowl and he was always cursing and complaining on top of everything else.  He wasn’t sure yet what to think of the boy but they were now tied by this common connection so he’d wait and see what he learned of him.

Akira slowly held his hand up and the boy rolled his eyes.  “What, the teachers already tellin’ you not to get involved with me?”

He blinked in surprise at the accusation but that had in fact taken place the day before with his homeroom teacher after they’d gotten to school.  Nodding, he decided his best route would be honesty, “…Yeah.  She said you were trouble.”

The boy  curled his lip into a scoff as he rubbed the back of his head, right at his hairline.  “Heh, we’re pretty much in the same boat.  I heard you got a criminal record.  Everyone’s talkin’ about it.  No wonder you were so gutsy.”  Straightening up and getting more serious, his voice dropped about ten octaves as he asked, “What was all that that happened?  You know… how we were almost killed in that castle…It wasn’t a dream right?  You remember it too, yeah?”

Reluctantly Akira nodded his head.  “It’s all I could think about last night.  How… when I came to school… would it really be the school or would I stumble upon that castle again?”

Ryuji sighed, shoving his hands back in his pockets.  “Well, just ‘cause we both remember it doesn’t mean much though…But man, that Kamoshida we saw there…” Looking back up at Akira, he continued on.  “You prolly don’t know about it, but there are some rumors about him.”

“The guy we met earlier?”

Ryuji nodded, “The ripped mophead.  That asshol who was all full of himself at the castle.  No one says anything against him ‘cause he’s some medalist who took the volleyball team to nationals.  The way Kamoshida was king of that castle felt crazy real cause of that…”  He hesitated before adding, “I wonder if we can go back to that castle again…”  Then he jumped and rubbed his hands all over his head groaning, “Ugh, forget it.  Must’ve all been a dream!  It has to be!”

“What was a dream?”  Asa asked as she walked to the two boys.  Ryuji jumped in surprised but Akira didn’t react much at all as she stopped next to him and leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“We were just talking about the punishment Ryuji got for being late yesterday.  They let me off the hook but he got it pretty hard.”  Akira answered, ignoring Ryuji’s agape jaw and wide eyes.

“Whoa whoa whoa, what the hell!?  Asa-san?  What…do you two know each other?”  Ryuji demanded.

Asa was confused for several moments before she realized what he was getting all worked up about.  It made her blush and rub the back of her neck.  “Uh, well I mean… since yesterday, yeah.”

“Y-yesterday?”  Ryuji repeated.  He squinted his eyes, darting back and forth between them.

Asa continued blushing hard and sidling her foot in the dirt before announcing suddenly, “Well, I’m gonna head on to class, so uh…both of you don’t be late.”  She rushed off nervously.

Akira watched her take off, his eyes soft before Ryuji intercepted his line of sight, throwing out his hands.  “What th’ hell man!  Explain!”

“Explain what?”

“How do you – a new guy – show up to school late and the next day have the school rockstar kissing you like it’s routine?”

“Rockstar?” Akira repeated in genuine surprise.

Ryuji’s whole expression changed.  “You don’t know?  Seriously?  Do the two of you know anything about each other?”

Akira shook his head.  “Not really.  It was kind of a unique situation.”

Ryuji sighed, hands back in his pockets and slumping back over.  “Man… I wish I had that kind of luck with the ladies… ”

** Morning **

“You did what…?” Jun demanded under her breath in the middle of class after reading the newest message in group chat in which Asa confessed what happened between her and Akira after school.  She physically turned around and glared at her despite Akira in the desk next to her and the teacher giving a lesson.

Asa quickly hushed her and pointed back at her phone.

Jun rolled her eyes and went back to her phone.

Jun: You did what?

Barry: I thought you weren’t into boys.

Asa: I’m not – I wasn’t… but… he’s just different.

Jun: Yeah, a criminal.

Asa: No he’s not!

Barry: He kind of is.

Asa: Not rightfully so!  It was circumstance!

Barry: Proof!

Jun: Proof!

Asa: He told me…

Jun groaned and facepalmed at her desk.  Behind her, Barry sighed.

Jun: Asa, you’re going to get yourself in serious trouble.

Asa: No I’m not.  He’s not a bad guy.

Jun:  You don’t KNOW that.  You THINK that and your opinion is biased.  You’re just seeing whatever you want to see.  Why him?  We could have found you a nice guy that wouldn’t get you in trouble with the band.

Asa: Why does everything have to circle back to the band?  Look.  I like him.  A lot.

Barry: One day.  You’ve known him for one day.  He’s either got some ulterior motive or he’s gonna go find another girl to make out with.

Asa: no he’s not!

Jun:  Look, I want to be happy for you because you’ve never shown any interest in any guy, but of all the guys you could pick…

Barry: you’re going to get harassed even more than you already are.

Jun: Yeah we’re such outcasts that even though you’re getting famous, people still avoid us when it’s not for pictures or something to get in on the fame.

Asa set her phone face down on the desk and glared at it.  She looked up at the teacher a moment before her eyes shyly slid over to look at Akira.  He was diligently following along with the lecture, his book out and open, with a notebook beside it, taking notes as the teacher spoke.  Even if she wanted to, Asa just couldn’ t focus  like that .  He must have felt her gaze though because he paused in his writing and slowly looked over.  Those warm black eyes caused her heart to beat ten times faster and she squeezed her phone tightly.  He gave her the most affectionate, kindest smile before going back to his notes.  She wanted desperately to reach over and squeeze his hand but she didn’t want to distract him or cause him trouble.  Shaking her head, she opened her phone back up and replied.

Asa: I don’t care what any of you think or say.  I know what kind of person he is. I’ll be fine.

** After School **

“Talliya!”

Asa had just stepped out of class when she heard the name shouted.  She had started to continue walking when she realized just who it was calling the popular girls’ name.  Pressing back inside of the classroom door, she listened as the rumored pervert teacher walked up to the silver-haired beauty.

Talliya had just come to a stop, but her expression seemed strained, as though fighting to keep her composure.  “Yes sir?”

“Need a ride home?  Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents.”  Kamoshida suggested.

Talliya paused.  “Yes.  I know.  It’s my fathers’ company getting the bad rep.  But I think I’ll be fine.    I have plans soon, sorry.”

There was a long space of silence and Asa peeked out a little further around the corner.

“You wouldn’t want to stress him out more, Talliya.  Be a good girl for me, okay?”  Kamoshida cooed, stepping closer to her.  He leaned down and got in her face as he whispered darkly.  “Besides… who would take your place if you refuse?”

Her skin visibly paled.  “Please don’t…”

“Then don’t disobey me.  Let’s go.”  He growled, strutting off.  Talliya quickly hurried to the entrance to the school but Kamoshida paused, noticing Asa standing there.  His eyes narrowed, “Well look what we have here.  Don’t supposed you need a ride home, too?”

Asa looked away.  An unwritten rule – every female student knew what that really meant.   She wanted to stand up to him and call him every word she could think of, but she wasn’t brave enough.  She knew what happened to the last person who stood against him.  She simply said, “I have practice.”

“Aw don’t be like that.  The ride would be much more fun with both of you.”

“We don’t even get along, it’s not going to happen.”

Kamoshida grinned.  “Are you jealous?  What if I took just you?”  He reached out, touching her shoulder and running his hand down her arm.  “You’re not as pretty as Talliya, but I’ve heard the rumors that you’re a freak, I wonder how far – “

Asa shoved his hand away.  “Get away from me!  You sick – “

A solid hand whipped across her face and the loud smack echoed in her ears.  She was frozen in disbelief, not sure what had happened.  The impact was so intense that she couldn’t even feel the sting yet.  He grabbed her collar and pulled her forward.  “I hate punks like you who think they can do whatever they want.  You don’t make the rules,  _ I do _ .  How would the principal like to hear that you’ve been causing me trouble, huh?  Think your mom would lose another job over you?”  Asa’s eyes widened in fear.  “They’d call her down here and she’d weep about how it was her fault for not raising you right and – “

“Kamoshida.”

Asa and Kamoshida looked over at Talliya who now stood in the doorway of the classroom.  She flicked her head.  “We were leaving, right?”

“Yes of course.  Sorry.  I was just dealing with an unruly student.”  He promptly released Asa and walked out with Talliya whose gaze lingered on Asa longer than necessary before she left as well.

As soon as they were both out of sight, Asa reached a hand up to her now swollen cheek.  Even just the touch caused her to wince in pain and the sting was reaching down her neck.  She lowered her head into her hand, covering her eyes.  “Dammit all…”

Clouds had rolled in for the day.  Akira, like usual was making his way out of the school when he saw the same blond as always at the gate.  The other boy straightened up and greeted, “Yo.”

Akira gave a cautious smile, “What’s up?”

“I wanna talk about that castle from yesterday.”  Ryuji confessed.  “I tried tellin’ myself it was all just a dream, but I couldn’t do it.”

“Because it wasn’t.”  Akira confirmed.  “We both know that.”

“I can’t act like nothing happened.  It’s all connected to that bastard Kamoshida after all.  I wanna find out what’s up with that place no matter what.  And y’know, you’re the only person I can rely on for this stuff.  So… you in?”

Akira shrugged.  “I’m… curious myself so I guess I’m in.  We – “

“You two look like you’re up to trouble.”  Asa stated, walking up to the two boys.  “Planning your next skip day?”

Ryuji gasped, “Dude it was an accident!  I’m telling you!  We weren’t skipping!”

Asa laughed.  “Chill.  I’m just joking around.  Are you guys gonna go hang out?”

Ryuji and Akira exchanged an awkward glance.  Asa, able to read it clearly put her hands up.  “Whoa don’t tense up on me.  I’m not inviting myself.  I have practice right now.  I was just curious.”

“Oh well in that case, yeah, we’re gonna hang.”  Ryuji answered.

Asa sighed.  “Wow.   So hanging out with me is that awful, huh?  Couldn’t you sugarcoat it at all?”  She started reaching into her back pocket for her phone.  

“It’s not like that, Asa, we were – “

“Dude, what happened to your cheek?”  Ryuji interjected suddenly.

Asa’s eyes widened and she quickly snapped, “Nothing!  Back off!”

Ryuji put his hands up.  “Easy, I was just asking.”

Asa looked down and away.  “I know, I’m sorry.  I’ just – “

Akira carefully reached up and cupped her jaw, turning her head so he could see the side that Ryuji was looking at.  His eyes narrowed a bit as he whispered, “It looks like someone hit you.”

Asa closed her eyes but she didn’t say anything.  Softly Akira asked, “Asa, what happened?”

“I swear to god we’ll beat the shit outta whoever did it.”  Ryuji snarled.  “We’ve both already got a rep so who cares?”

Asa looked at Ryuji in surprise before she rubbed the back of her neck.  “You don’t even know me…”

“So?”  Ryuji teased, “You don’t know Akira but you’re dating him already.  Besides, I don’t care what the hell went down, no one lays a hand on a girl while I’m around.”

Asa glanced back over at Akira, seeing the concern in his eyes and it broke her heart.  “Can… we agree to talk about it later?  I really gotta run and I came over here to you with a purpose.”

Akira hesitated so Ryuji growled, “Swear you’ll tell us?”

Asa nodded.

Akira sighed, “What’d you need?”

She held her phone out and blushed a bit.  “I uh… didn’t get your number yesterday…”

Ryuji shouted, “Are you kidding me!?  You two didn’t even exchange numbers yet?  What the hell?”

Akira chuckled, taking her phone and typing his into her keypad while handing over his phone to her.  Once they were done, they both put their devices away and she told him, “Well you boys have fun causing trouble okay?”  She leaned up and kissed Akira softly.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He blushed and nodded.  “Yeah uh… I’ll text you later?”

Asa smiled back at him as she trotted off.  “I’d like that… see you!  Ryuji don’t get him caught up in anything okay?”

“I-I won’t!  Go away!”  Ryuji shouted after her.  Once she was gone, he turned and looked back at the dark haired boy who was glaring in the direction she went.  “Not as calm about it as you act, huh?”

Akira shook his head.  “I need to know what happened.”

“We’ll settle that matter first thing tomorrow, ok?”

He nodded. “So back to that castle… Let’s start by retracing our steps from yesterday, alright?”

Akira frowned.  “But we kind of did, didn’t we?  When we came to school today?”

“We’ll just pay more attention this time.  If you notice weird buildings or anything, let me know.”  They started walking and he carried on talking, “If a huge castle like that exists, I’m sure we’ll find it in no time.  When’d they build something like that, though?”  Pointing, he asked, “We walked that way from here, right?”

“Maybe.  It looks right to me.”  Akira agreed.

Ryuji frowned a little at his half ass response.  “Come on man… I already think I’m going crazy…  Either way… let’s go then.”  The followed the same path they assumed to be the correct one from last time but to their dismay, they wound up at the school where they would have expected.

“Did we take a wrong turn?”  Akira questioned.

“No… and there wasn’t anything out of place on the way here, right?  I didn’t see no castle either…Maybe… we did make a wrong turn… let’s try again.”

“Again?”

“No messing up this time.  Let’s go.”

Once again they did the same thing, still coming to the gate of the school.

“For real?”  Ryuji complained.  Leaning against the stone lined shrubbery, he asked outloud, “Is it smaller than we think it is?  What do you think?”

Akira rubbed his chin, his brows furrowing as he thought it over.  “Have you checked your phone?”

Ryuji nodded.  “I already did that.  I didn’t see anything like it around here.  Huh?  Phone…”  His eyes widened as though overcome by realization.  “Wait, that reminds me – didn’t you have a navigation app thingy on back then?”

“Navi…gation app…?”  Akira repeated.  “What are you talking about?”

“I dunno if it was or not, but I heard stuff that sounded like one comin’ from your phone.  Y’know didn’t it say stuff like ‘returned to the real world’ or something like that?”  Ryuji just held his hand out.  “Lemme see your phone for a bit.”

Akira had barely pulled his phone out of his pocket when Ryuji snatched it up.  As soon as Ryuji swiped the screen with his thumb, he broke out in a huge grin.  “Y’know you should prolly check this thing more often now that ya got a girlfriend.”

“Huh?”  Akira asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Asa says ‘Sorry for acting so weird.  I hope you’re not overly concerned about what happened, it’s just complicated and I need to think it over.  I want to tell you but… I in the middle of things and it seemed like you were too.  I promise I’m not hiding anything’.”  Ryuji looked up at him.  “Sounds like she’s stressin’ out about whatever happened dude.  When we’re done, you should definitely call her.”

Akira blushed.  “C-call her?  I only said I’d text her…”

“She sounds like she needs a call.  Anyway, let’s focus a bit longer.”  Ryuji went back to fiddling with his phone.  After a bit, he asked, “What’s this eyeball-lookin’ thing?”

Akira grumbled, “I don’t know.  It’s this bizarre app that just showed up and I can’t delete it.  I’ve tried several times…”

“Wait, wha?”  Ryuji jumped.  “What a weird app…Oh wait!  This is it!  I knew it – it  _ is _  a navigation app!  There’s even your search history!”  Puffing his chest, Ryuji chuckled, “Aw man, I’m such a genius!  Let’s try usin’ it!”

“I don’t know how…” Akira told him.

“Then I’ll do it.” Ryuji told him.  He hit a button and immediately the phone began speaking.

“Kamoshida…Shujin Academy…Pervert…Castle.  Beginning navigation.”

“There we go!”  Ryuji exclaimed.  “Then we went in a certain direction and – “  Suddenly the world around them seemed to shift, becoming slightly darker and heavy presence fell on them both.

“Hey…”  Ryuji asked.  “What’re you – “  Finally, he too noticed the weird shifting of the atmosphere around them.  “What the hell!?”  The eyeball on the phone took over the entire screen until it was filled with red and the world around them began to morph until the castle they had stumbled upon last time took the place of the school they had just recently been in.  Ryuji’s eyes widened.  “It’s the castle from yesterday!”  Without waiting, Ryuji took off through the gate until the came the looming wooden doors in the stone wall just inside.  “We made it back… that means what happened yesterday was real, too…”

“I  had a feeling.”  Akira stated.  “So what do you want to do?  Last time we came in here we were ambushed by guards, got lost in the castle and barely made it back.”

“Let’s go back in.  But… we’ll be more careful this time.”  Ryuji suggested.  “We saw the pervert Kamoshida in here.  I want to know what he has to do with this place.”

Akira nodded, looking at his phone.  “Now this thing is useless, just like before…We’re on our own if something happens.”

“Yeah I know, now let’s go.”  Ryuji ordered, going around to the ventilation shaft they busted out to get out last time.  They landed inside the small little book room just like before and peeked around the hallway connecting it.  The wandered for a while, retracing the steps of where they had been last time, all the while dodging guards as much as they could.  It didn’t take long before they had made a complete circle through the halls and returned once more to the main lobby.

Ryuji cursed and kicked his foot on the nice red carpet.  “This is fucked up man!  I have no idea where the hell to go!”

Akira quickly scolded, “Quiet down…!  If you’re too loud then – “

“You!  Intruders from before!”  One of the guards shouted from the top of the circle steps.  “You have some nerve returning!”

Ryuji shouted, “Move it man!  We’re totes busted!”

Akira turned to run back towards the main door when several more guards swarmed and cut them off.  Ryuji cursed, “Shit! I – Hey!”  He gasped when one grabbed him by the arm and threw him down on the ground.  Another wrapped an arm around Akira, pointing the sword to his neck.  They struggled but there wasn’t anything they could do.  They were completely overpowered.

One guard shouted, “Take them away!”

They found themselves inside of a dark cell with nothing but a wooden cot, barrels of rotting something, and cuffs dangling from the walls.

Ryuji punched the cell bars.  “This ain’t no dream… we’re damned prisoners now!  Gah!  What’s goin’ on!?  Hey, let us outta here!  I know there’s someone out there!  Dammit, where are we?!  Is this some kinda TV set?”

A scream echoed from down the hall and they both jumped up.  It was the deep guttural sound a man in pain – tortured from the sound of it.

Akira narrowed his eyes.  “No.  Not a TV set.”

“T-the hell was that just now?”  Ryuji asked, as they both tried to look through the cell and down the corridor.  The scream changed to someone pleading and begging for their life.  Ryuji began to panic.  “Whoa… whoa, whoa whoa…You’re shittin’ me right?  This is real bad…!  Isn’t there some way outta here!?  C’mon we gotta do something!”  They started scrambling around, looking for anything that would help them.  The dirty bed, hanged black chains, the barrel, there was nothing in any of it that would help them escape.  

A noise caused them both to stop and they went back to the bars.

Guards marched up to their cell.  The front man stated flatly, “Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon.  Your charge is ‘unlawful entry’.  Thus, you will be sentenced to death.”

“Say what?!”  Ryuji shouted.

The guards parted and a familiar man walked up to them.  It was the stocky volleyball coach that everyone seemed to know.  But now his eyes were glowing yellow, a crown on his head and he was wearing nothing but a pink speedo and a cape with hearts all over it.  Just… what kind of pervert was he?

He snarled as he walked up.  “No one’s allowed to do as they please in my castle.”

“There you are, Kamoshida!  You’re the one I was looking for!”  Ryuji shouted.

Kamoshida snickered, “I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it’d be you, Sakamoto.  Are you trying to disobey me again?  It looks like you haven’t learned you lesson at all, huh?  And you brought a friend this time.  Because you can’t do anything for yourself.”

Ryuji yanked on the bars.  “This ain’t funny you asshole!”

“Is that how you speak to a king!?  It seems you don’t understand the position you’re in at all!  Not only did you sneak into my castle, you committed the crime of insulting me – the king!  The punishment for that is death.”

Akira grumbled,  “You already told us that.”

Kamoshida fanned his arm outwards.  “It’s time for an execution, take him out!”

Ryuji withdrew from the bars, backing up out of fear.  “S-stop it…”  The guards opened up the door and made their way in, backing the boys into a corner.

Behind the guards and the king, the woman with long black curly hair stood, her lips wrapped around a cigarette as usual, but she remained quiet, watching the scene before her.

The realization that it wasn’t a game was settling in on Ryuji and in a last ditch effort to defend his life, he tackled one of the guards, throwing them back.  “I ain’t down for this shit!  Come on, we’re outta here!”  But before he could do anything else, a solder came up and hit him in the back with the hilt of his sword and then punched him hard in the stomach.  He stumbled backwards before falling against the stone wall.

When they moved in on Ryuji, Akira went after them, trying to grab one and yank him away but they just flung him aside.

The woman’s hand twitched.

Ryuji shouted, “Just go!  Get outta here!  These guys are serious!”  Despite trying to yell, his voice was strained through the pain.

Akira struggled to get up.  Kamoshida laughed.  “Oh?  Going to run away are you?  What a heartless friend you are.”

Ryuji corrected, “He ain’t a friend!  Just hurry up and go!”

Akira paused, shocked by his words.

Kamoshida taunted, “What’s the matter?  Too scared to run away?  Hmph, pathetic scum isn’t worth my time…I’ll focus on this one’s execution.”  He motioned for the guards to scoop him up, holding him up by the arms as Kamoshida walked up to him.  “Take this…!”  he started punching him in the face and stomach.  “Lowly scum!  Useless pest!”  With one hard punch, he hit the ground, gagging in pain.  Once he was down, Kamoshida spit on the top of his head.  “Where’d your energy from earlier go?”  

A guard picked him back up and then through him across the room as the ‘king’ continued to mock, “A peasant like you isn’t worth beating.  I’ll have you killed right now.”

“Stop!  Leave him alone!”  Akira ordered when Kamoshida had his back to him.

The woman gritted her teeth.  “Akira.  No.”

“Hm…?”  Kamoshida looked back at him.  “What?  Don’t you dare tell me you don’t know who I am.”  He got up in Akira’s face.  “That look in your eyes irritates me…!”  With a growl Kamoshida kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him to the ground.

The woman’s hand reached back for the weapon on her belt.

Kamoshida ordered.  “Hold him there.  After the peasant, it’s his turn to die.”

The woman paused.

Akira shot back up to go after Kamoshida when he turned his attention back to Ryuji but two guards wrapped their hands around his arms and shoved him back against the wall.

The woman’s hand was shaking.  If she made a move, there was no going back.  She kept hoping Kamoshida would back off for a bit and return later, but it looked like he was going to kill them now.

Ryuji was shaking as he looked up at Kamoshida.  He whimpered, “N-No… I don’t wanna die…!”

Akira struggled, his teeth gnashing as a guard slowly lifted Ryuji up by the neck, pointing his sword at him.

The woman drew her weapon and started to charge forward when she heard Akira screaming in pain.  She looked over quickly but the atmosphere was taking on a different aura – one she recognized.  “No way…”

Kamoshida pointed to Ryuji having ignored Akira entirely.  “Execute him!”

“That’s enough!”  Akira shouted.

Kamoshida’s eyes widened before turning on Akira in pure rage.  “What was that?  You desire to be killed that much?  Fine!”  He flicked his head and the guard that was holding onto him suddenly bashed his shield into, knocking his glasses off his face and causing him to stumble several feet.

The woman’s breath caught in her throat.  “Wake up, Akira…”

When another guard went after him, she charged once again but a massive gust of wind knocked everyone but himself back.  The woman regained her composure in time to see him standing there, in awe of the mask now on his face.  His fingers padded around on it for a moment before gripping it and starting to pull.

The woman felt her stomach knot up as the sick sound of ripping flesh was accompanied by the scream of pain and smattering of blood across his face and the wall behind him.  He peeled the mask off but it took half his face with him and left him with a smoldering rage filled expression, his eyes glowing a beautiful gold and wicked grin parting his lips.  Blue fire erupted around him and engulfed him until a being took form above him and his clothes changed to that a tuxedo and mascaraed type outfit with red gloves.  His expression was entirely different – as though he were a new person entirely.

He threw his hands out and wind rushed all around them, throwing more of the guards back and sent Kamoshida crawling for the hills.  Even Ryuji was in awe of the massive power before him.  “Wh-what the…”

The being introduced, “I am the pillager of Twilight, Arsene!  I am the rebel’s soul that resides within you.  If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break through this crisis.”

Akira looked up at him, his eyes narrowed through his new black and white mask that had returned after erupting into flames.  “Give me your power.”

Arsene seemed pleased.  “Hmph.  Very well.”

Kamoshida demanded, “Who the hell are you?  Guards!  Start by killing that one!”  He was pointing at Akira now.  The guards changed into monsterous shapes instead of the human armor forms they were in now.  Kamoshida kept threatening, “You’ll learn the true strength of my men!”

With unfathomable ease, and a single hit each, Akira was able to take down the guards with his new persona abilities.  He washed them all away with dark blue curse powers that burned them until there was nothing left.  Once they were gone, Ryuji slowly stood.  “What… was that just now…?”

Kamoshida marched towards Akira.  “You little…!”  He went to grab Akira but Ryuji rushed forward, tackling him and slamming him into the wall.

Ryuji laughed.  “Heh!  You like that, you son of a bitch!”

The rattling noise caught Akira’s attention and he ordered, “Hey!  Let’s lock him in and get the hell outta here!”

Once the sweet sound of the metal closed behind them, they rushed off down the corridor, completely missing the woman in shadows as they ran by.

“Damn you…!”  Kamoshida shouted.

As they ran, Ryuji asked, “So what the hell was that back there?  And… your clothes…?”

As if on cue, Akira’s tuxedo outfit changed right back to his normal school uniform.  Ryuji was baffled, “Wh-what?  Now they’re normal…”

“I have no idea what’s going on.  We’ll worry about it after we’re outta here.”  Akira stated.  “It won’t take long for his guards to get here, so let’s keep it down.”  They rushed past hundreds of cells, having to cross back and forth what seemed like the castle sewer along the way.  After several turns and bridges later, the sound of thundering metal stopped them in their tracks.  A large mass of soldiers cut them off.

“Shit!”  Ryuji yelled.  “Ch-change back into that thing and beat them up!”

Akira looked at his hands.  “I… don’t know how…”

“What?  Then what do we – “

“Intruders!  Get them!  For King Kamoshida!”

Ryuji put up his fists.  “Guess we’ll do this old school.”

But before any of them could clash in battle, a powerful gust of wind followed by a blast of hot fire shot over the top of the two boys and swirled down into the guards, swallowing them up in one blast and leaving nothing but ashes.

Ryuji gaped.  “Holy shit.  What was – “

They both turned and looked as a woman walked up out of the shadows.  She had on shin-high black combat boots, black belted jean shorts that rode as low as possible with the teased of a red g-string stick out from the top and hugging her hips.  Her pale midsection was completely exposed, as well as the red bra she wore, barely covered by a black quarter sleeve jean jacket with only the button on her breasts done.  Black tattoos lined her arms and neck and on her face was a mask that looked like a black butterfly.  A cigarette was perched asymmetrically from her dark red lips and her blue black curls went wild down her shoulders and back.

Ryuji’s jaw dropped.  “Holy shit… what – I think I suddenly like this castle a lot more.”

Akira glared at him and then told the new woman, “Thanks for your help.  Do you know how to get outta here?”

The woman grinned.  “Cute boys like you shouldn’t be here to begin with.  Sadists only.”

“Well babe, if that’s what you’re in to…”  Ryuji swooned.

The woman glared at him a moment before tipping her head.  “Come with me.  I’ll get you boys out on the condition you don’t come back.”

“If this place is so awful, why are you here?”  Akira innocently asked.

The woman grinned.  “To make sure cute boys like yourself don’t get caught up down here.”  She looked back forward.  “Truth be told, I’ve been trying to figure out how to deal with the king around here.”

“Kamoshida?”  Ryuji asked.

“Yeah.  He’s too vile to leave alone.  He’s done some pretty awful shit.”

“So the rumors… they’re true?”  He asked, catching even Akira’s attention.

The woman said nothing.

As they walked, Ryuji kept looking in the cells and his eyes widened after a few.  “Hey… these prisoners… they’re… volleyball players from Shujin…”

Akira blinked.  “Really?”

“Yeah man…”  Ryuji whispered, “What the fuck is going on…?”

“Huh… Morgana?”

The two boys stopped when the woman turned to one of the cells.  She sighed.  “Caught again?”

The small black cat like creature walked up to the cell.  “Sorry, Ebony.  But I got really close this time!”

“Your name is Ebony?”  Ryuji asked.

“Here it is.”  Ebony answered, pulling on the chain that opened the cell, letting out the cat.  She knelt down and asked, “Think you can take these boys back out of the castle for me?”

The little blue eyed cat looked between Ebony and the guys before demanding, “You owe me and explanation.”

She nodded.  “Promise.”

With that the little black cat padded past them.  “Let’s go, blonde, frizzy hair.  I’m sure you want to go back home.”

“Yeah, I’m a little exhausted.  And I’m tired of running for my life.”  Akira insisted.

Ebony smiled at them.  “Just remember you’re not to come back okay?”

“But… what about you?” Akira asked.  “This place is dangerous… for you as well.”

“I can handle myself.  But thanks.”  She winked at him and fanned her fingers.  “Run along now.  Be good.  Or I’ll come punish you.”

Akira blushed darkly and Ryuji flicked his head.  “What are you doing getting flustered  for ?  You  _ already _  have a girlfriend back home.”

“I-I know!  I-I wasn’t…!”  Akira shook his head and they took off, but he glanced one last time at Ebony before he and Ryuji followed the cat back out of the castle.  They made it back the main entrance to the castle and as soon as they escaped through the  ventilation shaft again, they transported out of that world and back to the regular one.

Ryuji panted, leaning his hands on his knees.  “I think… I have even more questions than last time…”

Akira nodded.  “I… do too.”

“Are we really going to stay out?”  Ryuji asked.

Akira put his hand on his face.  “I don’t know yet.  I’ll sleep on it and we’ll talk tomorrow.”

Ryuji nodded.  “Alright man.  Later.”

** Evening **

Asa sighed and she flopped down onto her bed.  No sooner than her body hit the cushion than did her phone start going off.  She sighed and slipped her hand into the bag and pulled it out, swiping without looking, assuming it would be Barry or Jun.  “What’s up?”

“Are you free to talk?”

The second Asa heard Akira’s voice, her heart jumped into her throat and she sat up quickly, causing her blue and black curls to flip into her face.  “O-Of course!  How are you?”

“Fine.  I’m worried about you.”

Asa paused.  She had completely forgotten about the accident as well as her cheek.  Her fingers grazed up her skin and as soon as she touched it, she winced.  “I’m fine, I promise.”

“Will you tell me what happened?”

Asa teased, “So you’re the overprotective type, huh?”

“I am, but I don’t think this qualifies.  Someone put their hand on you.  I think anyone would demand answers.”

Asa looked down at her feet.  “A pushy guy didn’t like me telling him no.  That’s all.”

“Asa…”

“Please don’t do anything.”

“Why?  Did he threaten you?”

“You’re on probation right?”

There was a long pause.  “A guy hit you and you’re worrying about my situation?”

“I’d be really sad if I didn’t get to see you every day.”

Another pause and then a sigh.  “I’ll make a compromise then.   Stay at my side all through school, so I can ensure this bastard doesn’t lay another hand on you.  Then I know you’re safe and you get to be right next to me.  Win-win for all of us.”

Asa smiled.  “Akira…?”

“Hm?”

“I really like you.”

“Heh…I like you too, Asa.”

“I’m going to bed but… can we stay on the phone and talk for a little longer?”

“As long as you want.”

A large smile broke out on Asa’s face at his words.  She put him on speaker phone so she could change out of her clothes and curled up in bed.  She wasn’t sure how long they were on the phone before she passed out, but she felt every sentence between them was a deeper connection between the two of them.  A tie that would forever bind them.  At some point, she fell asleep before Akira, a soft snoring leaking into the receiver.

Akira stared up at his ceiling, listening to her soft breaths.  He envisioned her beside of him, curled up against his side, making those sweet noises.  His heart began to pound in his chest at the thought.  Two days they had known each other and already he was thinking such things.  He knew most people would scold him and say that it was infatuation but there was something… else.

His mind went back to that bruise on her cheek and the physical pain it had caused him.  It had felt like his world shattered.  The frown on her perfect pink lips that came with it… that was equally as painful.  He wanted to rescue her from whatever pain she was in.

“…Asa…?”

There was no response, the soft snoring just continued.

“I swear… I’ll protect you.”


	3. 4/13

4/13

Asa yawned as she woke up and rolled over, rubbing her eye with one hand opening her phone.  She was surprised to see that there was an unended call still going and it took her a moment to remember that she had been on the phone with Akira.  She had started to ask if he was awake but she could heard a distant deep snoring and it made her giggle.  He was the cutest.  She hung up the phone and sat up, shooting him a text that said ‘good morning’.

She was halfway through her morning routine before she got a text back saying almost the same thing, but he asked her how she slept.  Their conversation was pretty typical all morning until it was time for her to get to the train.

Akira: Where are you?

Asa: Just got to the station, why?

Akira: Which station?

Asa: Central street…

Asa frowned when she didn’t get another text back from him and she wondered if he was in the middle of getting to school.  As silly as it was, she frowned at the thought of waiting to get to talk to him more and had just started to put her phone in her pocket when an arm came around her waist and a hand landed on her upper arm.  She turned quickly to shove the pervert away when a soft calming voice cooed to her, “Easy, Asa, it’s me.”

Asa gasped as she looked up at Akira’s kind, smiling face and her gaze softened before she relaxed and fell against him.  Her head rested right against his collarbone and the scent of him filled her nostrils.  It was a little unusual…almost dusty smelling.  Like an old unused book.  But it… was the most relaxing scent she’d ever smelled.  His arms carefully wrapped around her as she nuzzled up against him and he whispered, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.  I was happy when you said this was the station you used.  I wanted to…walk you to school.”

Asa didn’t pull away.  “I missed you, Akira…”

Akira blushed darkly and he slipped his hand up, carefully cupping her chin and turning her head up and away so he could survey her cheek.  It was still swollen but now the deep color of the bruise was setting in.  It was the darkest red purple near her lip and up over the top of her cheek bone.   Somewhere along the lines of gazing at the injury, his gaze shifted from concern and worry to anger.  He only knew this when Asa stated, “Telling you who did it would only make you more angry.  That’s the reason I won’t.  There’s nothing we can do about it.”

He sighed, releasing her chin and using the same hand to brushing his fingers through her hair.  “I know.  That’s why I’m going to watch over you like a hawk from now on.”

Asa paused and then asked, “If that’s the case then… a-are you busy after school?”

Akira blinked before he realized what she was asking.  They hadn’t gone on their first date yet.  But… of all days... He shifted at his white collar and told her, “Can I take a rain check?  Tomorrow after school, ok?”

Asa’s frown deepened.  “I have practice tomorrow…”  She rubbed the back of her neck, not wanting to seem clingy but she was anxious to spend more time with him.

“Then…”   Akira frowned.  “W-we’ll play it by ear, but I’ll call you every night until we get time, okay?”

Asa’s smile returned a bit and she nodded.  “Okay, deal.”  She leaned up and kissed him gently.  “Let’s get to school.”

** After School **

“Those clothes!” Ryuji shouted.  Akira and Ryuji were standing outside the castle once more.   Akira looked down at himself, not having realized that he’d changed outfits and Ryuji confirmed, “They’re the same ones you changed into with that weird power yesterday…What’s with that outfit…?”

Akira looked at it.  “I dunno… but I don’t hate it…”

“You  _ like _  it?”  Ryuji exclaimed.  “What’s going on here?  This makes no effin’ sense!  We need to get to the bottom of things.”

“Should we hunt down that woman from yesterday…?  Ebony?”  Akira suggested.

“Hey!”

They both looked over at the little black cat they had freed the day before.  Morgana hushed them both, “Stop making a commotion!  We knew you were going to be back, but you can’t be luring shadows around here.  What the hell are you thinking coming back to the  _ entrance _  anyway?”

“What  _ is _  this place?”  Ryuji asked.  “Is it the school?”

“That’s right.”

The guys looked up to see the scarcely clothed woman in the butterfly mask from before.  She crossed her arms, pressing her almost exposed chest up even more.  She grinned, “You boys have some sets comin’ back here after I told you to stay away. ”

“We need answers!”  Ryuji shouted at her.

Morgana looked up at her.  “I don’t think the blonde one will be worth the time, but frizzy hair might be of some use.”

Ryuji fanned his hand.  “Start explainin’ then!  How can this be the school?  It’s a castle.”

“The castle is the school.”  Ebony stated.  “At least, to the ruler of this castle, it is.”

“Ruler?”  Akira questioned.

“Kamoshida.”  Ebony clarified.

“This is how his distorted heart views your school.”  Morgana added.

“Kamoshida…?  Distorted…?” Ryuji repeated.

“Hard to believe?”  Ebony mocked.

“No… not at all but…”  Ryuji whispered.  “E-Explain it in a way that makes sense!”

“I shouldn’t have expected a moron to get it.”  Morgana grumbled.

A scream cut them all off and Ryuji tensed up.  “What was that?!”

“Captive slaves.”  Ebony explained.

“For real?”  

Another scream came pouring out of the doors.

“Yeah it sounds real.”  Akira concurred.

Ryuji frowned a bit.  “I mean… we saw the guys held captive here yesterday… I’m pretty sure they’re frown our school.”

“Most likely on Kamoshida’s orders.  It’s nothing out of the ordinary; it’s like that every day here.”  Ebony explained.

“What’s more, you two escaped here yesterday.  He must have lost his temper quite a bit.”  Morgana added.

“That son of a bitch!”  Ryuji shouted.

“Calm down.”  Ebony ordered.

“This is bullshit!”  He turned and kicked the main door.  “You hear me, Kamoshida!”

Morgana frowned.  “Doing that won’t make it open, you know…”

“He has his reasons.”  Ebony argued.

Ryuji  spun back around.  “Hey skanky dressed woman.”

“Ebony.”  She calmly retorted.

“Do you know where those voices are comin’ from?”

“Why?”

Morgana chipped in, “Do you want us to take you to them?”  He crossed his arms.  “I guess we could guide you there.  But only if he comes with.”  Morgana pointed to Akira.

“Huh?”  Akira asked.  “Why specifically me?”

Ebony giggled, tapping her bottom lip with her finger.  “You’re the cute one.  That’s why.”

“H-hey!”  Ryuji hollered.  “I’m cute too!”

Akira nodded.  “I’ll go then.”

Ryuji grinned.  “Thanks man.”

“Alright then.  Follow us.”  Morgana ordered, taking off around to the side.  They returned to the room where the boys escaped previously through the ventilation shaft and climbed back through.  Quietly they made their way through halls and corridors.  A couple times they had to stop when reality would distort and visions of the school would leak through the castle.  

They reached back into the prison chambers when they ran into their first guard.  Ebony held her hand up.  “You boys sit tight a moment.”

Morgana jumped up and down.  “You got this, Ebony?”

She nodded and stealthily walked  around into the hall the guard was in, sticking as close as possible to the shadows.  Once she was within reach of the guard, she jumped forward, wrapping her body around him and breaking his neck with easy.  Once the shadow dropped to the ground, it melted and evaporated like it was nothing.

“Whoa…”  Akira whispered.

Ryuji snapped his fingers in front of Akira’s face.  “Hello man.  Remember Asa?  Don’t be a cheater dude.”

Akira glared at him.  “I’m not!”

“Yeah well the way you’re eyeballin’ her ain’t far from it.”

Ebony wiggled her fingers.  “C’mon boys.  I’m getting old over here…”

They made their way on down to where the captive boys had been the other day, but upon arrival, there were none in the cells.

Ebony put her knuckle to her lips.  “They’ve been transferred…?”

“Must have happened while I was searching for the treasure.”  Morgana explained.

Ryuji punched the cell bars.  “This is bullshit!”  He paused and looked down the dark hall.  “Wait, I remember some being down here…!”  He took off.

Akira, his hands in his pockets, smoothly asked, “If they were transferred, where would they have gone?”

Ebony shrugged.  She suddenly sidled over to him, pressing her body up against his side and walking her fingers up his chest.  “But ya know… with all of these newly emptied cells and dark corners…I can think of a few naughty things you and I could do…”

Akira’s face heated up dark red before he gently pushed her off.  “S-sorry but no.  I’m not interested.”

Ebony frowned.  “What, chains not your thing?  I can do other stuff.”

“Th-that’s not it!”  Akira shouted, getting more flustered.

“Oh, so you do like chains?  Good to know, I – “

“I-I have a girlfriend!”  Akira yelled at her in a slur of words.

Ebony paused before laughing into her hand.  “Oh aren’t you cute.  C’mon, you’re a big boy.  What she doesn’t know what hurt her…”  Ebony leaned into him, going for a kiss when Ryuji came running back, screaming about hearing footsteps.  Ebony cursed.  “Cockblocker.”

Akira was red down to his neck, glad the thug had interfered.

Morgana pointed over to the door between the cells, “Hurry, let’s hide in there.  We’ll be in serious trouble if we’re caught now.”

Once they were inside the room, Ebony perched a hand on her exposed hip.  “Good call, Morgana.  The shadows won’t come in here.”

Ryuji panted, “How can you tell?”

“There’s a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler’s control over this area is weak.”  Morgana explained.

The distortion shifted again.

Ryuji’s eyes widened.  “Is this a classroom?”

“Yes. “ Ebony stated.  “This place is another reality that the ruler’s heart projects.”

Ryuji punched the wall.  “So this is Kamoshida’s reality?  Shit makes no sense at all!”

Ebony crossed her arms again.  “One could say it’s a world in which one’s distorted desires have materialized.  Also known as a palace.   This is happening because he thinks the school is his own castle.”

“So… it became like this because he just thought of it like that?”  Akira asked.

Ryuji shouted, “That son of a bitch!”

Morgana frowned, “He really hates this Kamoshida guy…”

Ebony nodded her head.  “Yeah, he does.”

“Hate doesn’t even cover how I feel!”  Ryuji argued.  “Everything is that assholes fault!”

“I don’t know what happened between you two, but don’t let your emotions get the better of you.”  Morgana warned.  “His lackeys are everywhere inside.”

Ebony swirled her finger around in the air.  “Hey, Akira, aren’t you curious about your outfit?”

Ryuji crossed his arms.  “I am too… but… more curious about yours, Ebony.”

“It’s also because of this world.”  Morgana explained, “Anything distorts according to how a ruler pleases within his Palace.  A school can turn into a castle like this after all.  In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion.  Your appearance is a manifestation of that.  It’s the image of rebellion that you hold within.   Take Ebony for example:  In reality she’s a quiet, modest girl who keeps to herself.  But she visualizes her rebellious self as a tattoo’d smoker with little to no modesty to their clothes.  Hence, that’s how she manifests in this world.”

Ryuji glared at her skeptically.  “So… you’re a goody-two-shoes in the real world but not here?”

Ebony giggled again.  “That’s right.  I much prefer being the bad girl here.  I don’t have to hold myself to anyone’s standards.”

“So… you dress like a slut.”  Ryuji stated.

Ebony smiled more.  “Don’t lie, you were staring.”  She glanced at Akira who seemed to be staring as well.  “Hm… but not like this handsome one here does.”

Ryuji snapped and waved his hand in front of Akira.  “Hey!  Dude!  Asa, remember!”

Akira turned and glared at Ryuji.  “I know!  You don’t have to remind me!”

Ebony draped herself over Akira and wrapped her arms around him.  “Mn… Is Asa the name of the lucky girl? Boo hiss… I can make you forget all about her…”

Akira stiffened, his face once again going dark red.

Ryuji pushed her off.  “Back off!  He’s taken okay?  Get that through your head!”

Ebony stuck her tongue out at him.  “Jerk!  I was just having fun!”

“Anyway, okay so the clothes thing, I kinda get.  Our version of rebellion.  But what the hell are you?”  

“I’m a human!”  Morgana shouted.

“No, you’re a cat.”  Ryuji argued.

“This is, well… it’s because I lost my true form…I… think…” Morgana corrected.  “But I do know how to regain my true form.  The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means.”

“Aha.”  Ebony pointed her finger.  “So that’s why you were repeatedly caught after every time I let you out.”

“Yeah, sorry.”  Morgana told her.  “Anyway, if we’re going to keep going, we should hurry up.”

“Agreed.”  Ebony concurred.  She winked at Akira.  “We’ll be needing your help, too, handsome, okay?”

Akira blushed.

Ryuji shouted, “Stop tormenting him!”   He paused.  “Wait.  I can help too.”  He reached into his back pocket and pulled out an air soft gun.  “I brought this just in case.  It’s a model gun though, so it only makes sounds.”

Ebony rolled her eyes.  “That’s a toy.”

“But it looks totally real.  It’ll fake them out!”  Ryuji stated.

Morgana sighed.  “Whatever.  If you’re ready to go, let’s resume.”

Like before they made their way through the halls until they came upon more soldiers who were talking among themselves.  Ebony put her hand up in a shushing motion and leaned over, listening in.

“Sir, we think we saw the intruders a while back.  We lost sight of them shortly after though.”

“And what of the slaves?”

“They’re all in the training hall.  I’d assume they’re screaming in pain by now.”

Morgana looked up at Ryuji when the soldiers dispersed.  “Did you catch that, air-head?”

“The training hall.”  Akira stated.

“That’s just a little ways ahead, right?”  Morgana asked.  When Ebony nodded, they took off again.   They wound their way around the castle, Morgana and Ebony easily taking down any enemy they stumbled across.  In a narrow tunnel,  a couple more soldiers were talking to each other.  Ebony  leaned on Akira’s back and grinned, “Why don’t you beat these little guys yourself, hmm…?  Get some practice in?”

“Practice?”  Akira repeated, blushing.

“Come on… You can do it.  Just walk up to them…”  She leaned up to him, her lips against his ear.  “And pull their mask off…”

Ryuji glared at her.  “I said stop!”

Akira pulled away and straightened up.  “Okay, fine, I’ll do it.”  Crouching down low, he waited until just as the soldier passed by.  Akira jumped, landing on the shadow’s back and yanking his helmet off his head.  When he did, a monster erupted from out of what used to be it’s body.

Akira took a step back just as the new monster went for him but before it could hit him, it was overcome by a wave of fire that washed it out by a flurry of butterflies.   Akira watched as the flaming butterflies all circled back around and disappeared back inside of Ebony.  “T-thanks…”

Ebony smiled brightly at him.  “My pleasure!”

For a moment, Akira paused.  He, for some reason, thought of the subway ride with Asa.  That smile she gave him as she hurried off with the crowd to return home.  He quickly shook his head.  He needed to finish up their business here and get back to her instead of eyeing this strange new woman.

Finally, they made it to their desired destination and Ryuji gasped in rage.  The path was lined on either side with soldiers forcing volleyball players to do their bidding like slaves.  In one pit, the players were tied to nets with soldiers whipping them.

“Complete bullshit!”  Ryuji shouted.

Morgana glared at him.  “How many times do I have to tell you to keep your voice down!?”

“But this is beyond messed up!”  Ryuji started yanking on the bars.  “How do I open this…?”

“Stop it!”  Another student shouted.  He was a volleyball player but he was covered in bandages.  His entire right arm and left leg.  There were even a few wrapped around his head and he tried his best to walk up to them but his gait was broken and weak.  “Leave us alone… it’s useless…”  He begged.

Another player, as equally injured, came up on the other side.  He concurred, “If we stay obedient, we won’t be executed like you guys…”

Ryuji pressed his face up to the bars.  “You’re tellin’ me you wanna stay in a place like this?!”

Ebony narrowed her eyes but Morgana was the one who spoke up, “Were you planning on taking these guys out of here?”

Ryuji glared at him, “We can’t just leave ‘em here!”

Morgana shook his head.  “How stupid can you be?  These are only humans in Kamoshida’s cognition. ”

When Ryuji’s face scrunched up in confusion, Ebony added, “They aren’t real humans that have entered from reality like we are.  They’re different.  There’s no point in saving them.  They’re not the same ones in reality that you know.  They’re not real.  You could say… they’re… extremely similar-looking dolls.”

“What th’ hell.”  Ryuji complained.  “Why is everything so complicated?  So the school’s a castle and the students are slaves.  It’s so on point that it makes me laugh.  This really is the inside of that asshole’s head.”

Ebony looked down into the pit at the volleyball players getting beat.  “Still, this is horrible.  If this is his cognition, it means he treats them like this in the real world, too.”

“In the real world too?”  Ryuji repeated.  

Morgana sighed sadly, “They must be physically abused every day… there’s no way they’d be so beat up normally.”  He looked up.  “Ebony, are you okay?”

Her eyes were narrowed through her mask and her hands were squeezing her arms to the point her knuckles went white.  She took a deep breath.  “Y-yeah I’m fine.”

“So… they’re going through similar shit in reality?”  Ryuji demanded.

“Most likely.” Ebony confirmed.  “This proves that Kamoshida thinks of them as slaves – and not the good kind.”

“Good kind…?”  Akira repeated in confusion.  Ebony winked and he blushed more.

Ryuji punched the cell bars again.  “I heard that Kamoshida’s usin’ physical punishment.  They’re just rumors, but…if they’re true, wouldn’t this be somethin’ to report to the police…?  I”ll use these guys as evidence.   If it all goes well, we can take down that asshole, Kamoshida!”  Ryuji tried taking a picture of the pit but his eyes widened and he repeatedly tapped his screen.  “Huh?  It’s not workin’!?”

Akira frowned.  “So we can use the navigation app but not the camera?”  Akira looked at Ebony for answers.

She shook her head.  “Not sure the details myself.  But phones are useless except for getting in and outta here.  Either way, if you’re done, we need to get moving.  I can’t believe we haven’t been busted by guards already.”

“Fine.  I’ll just memorize their faces and ask around before we leave.”  Ryuji stated, pressing his face to the bars again.  Once he was done, they finally started heading back, passing several cells along the way.

Most of them were filled with volleyball players getting beaten and abused with no profit, but there was one plain cell that didn’t have a torture device.

Ryuji paused.  “What’s going on here?  Who’s that…?  It’s a girl…!”

Ebony grabbed his arm.  “Let’s just go hurry up.”

“No way, I gotta memorize the girls’ face.  She’s not a volleyball player…”  Ryuji leaned back in and ordered the girl.  “Hey look up at me!”

The girl shifted in the darkness and when she did, chains rattled.  She whispered to them, “I can’t… King Kamoshida won’t approve…”

Ryuji’s eyes narrowed.  “Who gives a shit what that bastard thinks or says?  We’re gonna get you out of here.”

The woman scooted closer until there was a little light cast on her.  Chains were strapped to her wrists and ankles and she was covered in bruises and scars.  She was stripped of all clothes and lay bear for all to see.  When she looked up, though, Akira shoved Ryuji out of the way, his trembling hands grasping the cell bars.  “A-Asa…”

Ebony watched the two boys stare at the captive woman before she looked over her and asked, “Asa huh?  So she’s the girl you’re with?”

Akira couldn’t look away, his body shaking with rage.  “So… the one who hit her…”

Ryuji narrowed his eyes.  “It was Kamoshida.”

Ebony leaned her back against the stone wall near the cell.  “Kamoshida particularly hates this woman.  He complains that her growing popularity is stealing away from his spotlight.  His cognition of her is a pet he needs to train and control.  Her punishment is simply for existing.  In his mind, she’s good for nothing, but eliminating her would be too much trouble for him – “

“Open the cell!”  Akira ordered.

Ebony glared at him.  “That’s not the real Asa, remember?  That’s a fake cognitive shadow that Kamoshida created within his heart.  Opening the cell here will do nothing but – “

“Just open the cell!”  Akira ordered.  “I’m not leaving her like this.”

“It won’t do anything…”  Ebony insisted.  “The moment you leave, she’ll just – “

“Open the cell!”  Akira shouted at her.

Ebony’s frown deepened before she sighed, reaching up and pulling the hidden chain that opened the cell.  “It’s just a waste of time.”

The moment the bars were raised, Akira dove into the cell and dropped down in front of her.  “Asa…”

Asa looked up at him and her swollen and black eyes softened.  “Akira… you shouldn’t be here.  You’re in enough trouble…”

“Don’t worry about me…”  Akira yanked off his jacket and wrapped it around her.  “I can’t do anything but this for you here, but in the real world… I swear…I’ll save you, okay?”

Asa nuzzled into his chest.  “You have enough to worry about.  Don’t trouble yourself over me…”

Akira held her closely for several minutes, leaning his head down into her hair.  “I’m so sorry…”

Ebony watched them for several moments before looking away, her hands clenched tight.

Ryuji glanced at her before smirking.  “Makes you kinda sick, huh?  Would you believe me if I told you those two have only known each other for two days?   They’re so in love after just a couple days and it makes me so jealous.”

Ebony pulled out a cigarette and slipped it into her mouth.  “You’re weird.  You know… humans are the only creatures who invented this figment of time?  In reality, feelings have nothing to do with that imperceptible fake concept.  Love isn’t based on actions or words.  It’s based on a spiritual connection based in a reality apart from ours.  Real love… happens instantly.  You just meet the person and you know.  In fact, it would cause a physical reaction in you.  That’s when you know.  It could be with a person you’ve known for a long time, or someone you just met.  But love is a reaction that happens in one instant.”

Ryuji rolled his eyes.  “Who knew a slut could be so philosophical.  Either way.  That reason right there, that’s why I want you to leave Akira alone.  If you ruin that, I’ll kill you.”

Ebony looked away, letting out a smoke filled breath.  “We’ll see what happens.  Tell him to hurry up.  I’m going to scout ahead.”

Morgana glared at Ryuji.  “Did you miss my explanation earlier?”

Ryuji looked at him in confusion.  Morgana yelled at him, “That isn’t what Ebony is really like!  In this universe, a person with a persona is their ideal rebel.  They dress the way they know they shouldn’t and they act in a way they know they shouldn’t.  Ebony’s real self isn’t going to be anything like that.”

“Yeah I’ll believe that when I see it.”  Ryuji looked back at Akira.  “C’mon man.  I know this is messed up but that’s not her and we gotta get going.”

Akira pulled back and carefully cupped her cheeks.  He brushed softly along her cheekbones with his thumbs and ordered, “Stay strong for me, okay?”

Asa nodded.  “Be careful Akira…”

He stood up reluctantly and hurried out of the cell before he’d give in again.  They hurried along the corridors with Ebony and Morgana’s guidance until they made it back to the main lobby and entrance.  They were almost home free when a couple more powerful guards and Kamoshida himself walked up.  “…You knaves again?”

Morgana cursed.  “We let you two linger for too long.”

“To think you’d keep making the same mistake.  You’re hopeless!”  Kamoshida taunted.  

Ryuji held his fist out.  “The school ain’t your castle!  I’ve memorized their faces real good.  You’re goin’ down!”

Kamoshida chuckled.  “It seems it’s true when they say “barking dogs seldom bite”.   How far the star runner of the track team has fallen.”

“The hell are you getting’ at!?”  Ryuji demanded.

“I speak of the “track traitor” who acted in violence, ending his teammates’ dreams.”  Kamoshida clarified.  Oooh, I can only imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with your…selfish act.”

Akira looked at Ryuji.  “What’s he talking about?  Track traitor?  Violence?”

“What a surprise.  So you’re accompanying him without knowing anything at all?  He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever.”

“That’s not true!”  Ryuji argued.

“ – You’ve come along with this fool and are now going to end up dead.  How unlucky of you.”  Kamoshida mocked.  “Go.  Kill them all.  Don’t sully my castle with garbage.”

The guards that came with him suddenly broke out of their shell, turning into dark goat-horse creatures with long curved green horns on top  of their heads and glowing red eyes.

Ebony threw her hand out.  “All of you get back.”  When she did, a swarm of butterflies flew around her again, creating a massive wave of fire that engulfed her and then spread out around her, engulfing the creatures.  But to her dismay they shook off her fire and then charged at her, ramming into her chest and sending her flying back into the wall.  She cursed as she slid down to the wall.  “Shit… they’re fireproof?”

Morgana started to go after her when one of the creatures bit into the back of his neck and started shaking him around like a ragdoll.

Ryuji cursed, “Shit, they’re in trouble!”

Akira summoned his persona as well but before he could make a move, a guard slammed into his back and then stomped on him, forcing him into the ground.

Ebony screamed, “Akira!  Get off of him!”

Kamoshida laughed.  “I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this.  Isn’t that right?  What  a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly…”

Ryuji had fallen to his knees, seeing that all his comrades were in trouble and he had no power to help them.   “N-no…”

“How dare you raise your hand at me?”  Kamoshida snarled.  “though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?”

“ Wa sn’t no practice!”  Ryuji argued.  “It was physical abuse!  You just didn’t like our team!”

“It was nothing but an eyesore!  The only one who needs to achieve results is me!  That coach who got fired was hopeless, too…Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would’ve settled it with only breaking his star’s leg.”

Ebony’s eyes widened.  “He broke your leg?”

Kamoshida laughed.  “Do you need me to deal with your other leg, too?  The school will call it self-defense anyway!”

Ryuji crumpled over and punched the ground.  “Not only can I not run anymore… the track team is gone too ‘cause of this asshole…!”

“I’ll deal with these guys first… and then go after you.”  Kamoshida chuckled.

Akira was trying to force himself back up.  “C’mon Ryuji…!  Don’t let him win!  Stand up for yourself!  Fight back!”

“…You’re right.  Everything that was important to me was taken by him…I’ll never get ‘em back!”

Kamoshida ordered, “Stay there and watch.  Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you.”

Ryuji slowly got to his feet.  “No… that’s what you are.  All you think about is using people… You’re the real scumbag, Kamoshida!”

Ebony gasped as the area around them began flowing with power.  “A… persona…!”

Ryuji suddenly started grabbing at his head and screaming in pain.  A pain that was so intense he dropped to the ground and started crawling around  in agony.  When he raised his head back up though, there was a metal half skull mask adorning his face.

The guard mocked.  “What can you do?  Cower in fear and watch!”  He raised his sword over Akira’s head.

Ebony pushed herself off the wall, holding her aching stomach and ran at the guard.   At the same time, Ryuji grabbed at his skull mask and ripped it off.  Blood smeared down his face, across his clothes and up into his blonde hair.  He let out a horrendous shout of pain as power surged around all of them.  The guards all looked up in awe and while they were distracted, she shoved him off Akira and knelt down to him.  “Are you okay…?”

There was a pause in the swirling blue light of the newly awakened persona and Akira whispered, “…Asa…?”

Ebony smiled softly.  “Not yet.  You’ll see her again soon.”

They looked back at Ryuji and over his head was a pirate looking man standing on a ship floating above Ryuji’s head.  Ryuji whipped his head up with a big cocky grin on his face.  He was looking at his hands.  “Right on… Wassup Persona?  This effin’ rocks!  Now that I got this power, it’s time for payback…”

Morgana ran over to Akira and Ebony once all the guards were blown back.  He grinned at the two of them.  “Yo… I’m ready.  Bring it!”

The guards shouted, “Don’t mock me, you brat!”  He transformed into a knight with red armor on a horse and charged them.

Ebony looked back at  Ryuji.  “My fire won’t do anything, you have to hit them.”

Ryuji snickered.  “Oh I know. “  He pointed at the knights and shouted, “Blast them away!  Captain Kidd!”  In response, lightning struck down all throughout the lobby hall, hitting everyone of the guards in several fell swoops.  Static trickled around the carpet and walls for several moments before fading out.  The guards fell to the ground and melted away just like previous ones they’d destroyed.

Ryuji dropped to his knees, panting but he still put on a tough guy act.  “How bout that?”  He was now wearing a leather rebel attire with yellow gloves and steal knuckle plates, knee guards, and ammo strapped all over his body.  A single red tie was around his neck and fell down over his chest off-center.

Morgana whispered, “So… Ryuji had this power too all along?”

Ryuji yelled at Kamoshida.  “Even if you apologize now, I ain’t forgivin’ you! “

But Kamoshida was calm.  “I told you that this is my castle.  It seems you still don’t understand… ”

On cue, a woman walked up behind Kamoshida but she was in nothing but white lingerie and her hair a mess all over her head.

Ryuji’s eyes narrowed.  “Wait… that’s a student… at shujin… I’ve seen her at the popular girls table…Her name is uh… uh…”

“Talliya.” Ebony finished.

Talliya smiled as she leaned up behind Kamoshida, pressing her exposed body all over him.

“What the  hell is going on here?”  Ryuji demanded.

“What do you think?”  Ebony growled.

“Why is she here though?”  Ryuji asked.

Ebony rolled her eyes.  “She’s not really here, remember.  It’s a shadow version of her.”

Kamoshida turned his head and started kissing on her, his hand rubbing up and down her neck and then moving down lower.  Ryuji shouted, “Let go of her you sick perv!”

“How many times must I tell you until you understand ?  This is MY castle – a place in which I can do whatever I want.  Everyone wishes to be loved by me.”  He wrapped his arm around her lower waist and pulled her in against him as his kisses moved down her neck and his filthy fat tongue ran up her neck and jaw.  He paused and growled.  “…that is… everyone besides slow-witted thieves like you.”

“Talliya!  Get away from him!”  Ryuji ordered.

Morgana glared at him.  “Calm down!  That girl isn’t the real one!  She’s the same as those slaves and Asa – a being made from Kamoshida’s cognition of her.”

Akira looked at Morgana.  “So he thinks of his students at slaves.   Asa as a pet he needs to tame and Talliya as… an object of sex?”

Kamoshida laughed.  “Are you jealous?  Well, I’m not surprised.  Women aren’t drawn to problematic punks like you.”  He pointed his hand out, drawing Talliya in closer.  “Clean them up this instant!”

Several guards all suddenly showed up, circling around them.  Morgana ordered, “We need to just run, there’s too many of them.”

Ryuji glared down at the cat.  “And not do anything!?”

“This is a losing fight, Ryuji.  We can’t die here.”  Akira told him.

Ebony smirked.  “At least one of you has a level head.  Let’s go!”

Before rushing off, Ryuji threatened, “We’ll expose what you really are, no matter what!  You better be ready for us!”

“Good, I was starting to get bored of my slaves here.”  Kamoshida mocked, watching them run.  He turned back to Talliya.  “Now let’s take this back to my quarters…”

Once outside the palace, Ryuji looked at himself and stated, “I don’t remember changing into this…!”

Akira smirked.  “You just noticed?  It looks good on you.”

“Uhh… should I be happy about that?  Then again… it ain’t as bad as yours.”  Ryuji chuckled.

Ebony crossed her arms.  “And neither of you are as bad as mine.”

Ryuji laughed.  “Ain’t that the truth.”  He looked back down at Morgana.  “So… now the whole palace is after us?”

Ebony explained, “When a persona-user opposes a palace’s ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens.”

“And because I’m a persona-user now… this… skull appeared?”  Ryuji asked.

Morgana added, “Your appearance reflects your inner self – the rebel that slumbers within.”

“Wait!”  Ryuji interjected, “We’re still in trouble!  We got away here, but we still have to face Kamoshida at school…”

“That’s quite sharp of you.” Morgana stated.  “For being an idiot.  Relax.  The Kamoshida in reality can’t possibly know about what happens here.   A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed – a side of one’s personality they don’t want to see.”

“So… we’re okay?”  Ryuji asked.

“Did the Kamoshida in reality remember about the execution?” Morgana questioned.

“No.  So we’re okay?”  Akira asked.

“Yes.  Now you boys need to get back.”  Ebony ordered.  “You’ve been here long enough.”

“What about you?”  Akira questioned.

“I’ll go back when I’m done here.  I want to hunt around a little longer.”

“Okay…”  Akira turned to Ryuji.  “Let’s go.”

Once the two boys vanished from the metaverse, Ebony turned around and started walking off.  Morgana curiously asked, “So… you don’t want them to know who you really are?”

Ebony shook her head.  “Not yet.”

** Evening **

Asa sat on her bed, legs crossed, staring at her phone that was resting on the comforter.  Her chin was resting on her fists.  Sure enough, a few minutes later, the screen lit up with Akira’s name.  She stared at it for a moment, letting it go through the rings before she swiped her screen and turned the speaker on.  She hesitated, “…Hey.”

She could almost feel the hesitation on his side of the phone as well.  “Asa.  We need to talk.”

“I… had a feeling .”  Asa confessed.

A confused noise came through the phone.  Then Akira asked, “I… I need to know who hit you.”

“Why… do you suddenly need to know now?”

“Because I think I know who did it.  I just want confirmation.”

“And… what will you do with that confirmation?”

“I… don’t know yet.  File a police report or something.”

“They won’t listen.  I did that the first – “  She suddenly stopped talking.

There was a long silence through the phone.  His voice trembled, “The first time…?  Asa?”

Asa rubbed her face and groaned.  “I… didn’t want you to know that, I’m sorry.”

“Was it Kamoshida?”

“Yes…He caught me listening in on him forcing Talliya to join him for a…  _ ride _  after school.  He… told me to come with.  That it would be more fun and I… I refused him and he hit me… hard…But Talliya, she – “

“I won’t let him touch you again.  I’ll protect you.”

“What about Talliya?  He’s forcing her to – “

“We’ll protect her too.  We’ll protect everyone.”

“How?”

“I don’t know yet.  I’ll figure something out.”

Asa sighed and curled up into a ball on her bed, her phone resting in front of her face.  “Okay then… your turn… full disclosure.  What was the situation that got you your assault charge?”

Akira sighed and answered, “I was getting home late.  I heard a man and woman fighting.  He was forcing himself on her.  I interrupted and he…he was drunk and stumbled, hitting his head on the car behind him.  He started shouting things about sueing me.  Then he threatened the woman of exposing some secret if she didn’t testify against me.  It must have been serious because… she did it.  I was set up.”

“You got a criminal charge for stopping a rape… what a wonderful world we live in…I’m so sorry…Akira.  All the more reason I don’t want you to – “

“Knowing now, that it would cause all this trouble for me… I’d still do it.  I know it was the right thing.  So no matter what it’ll cost me this time, I won’t let something happen to you, okay?”

Asa sighed and curled up under her covers.  “If you’re sure… then… I won’t stop you…but… I will repay you.”

“I don’t want it.”

“All I can I repay you with now is affection.”

Akira chuckled.  “Alright.  I’ll take that.”

“I can’t wait to see you again…”

“Me too, Asa…”


	4. 4/14

** Morning **

The homeroom teacher, a lean brown curly haired woman looked as distraught as always.  She flicked her hand.  “Okay, listen up everyone.  As you all know, today is the volleyball rally.  Head to the gymnasium once you’ve changed, got it?”

Barry groaned at Asa, “Great another chance to rub in our faces out great the volleyball team is and how amazing Kamoshida is for teaching us.”

Jun glared at her, “Keep it down.  You’re going to get us all detention again.”

“So what?”  Barry whined.  “Detention would be better than this bullshit.”

Asa rolled her eyes and smiled.  “Just play along, Bar-bar.”

** Afternoon **

****

The first part of the assembly was just everyone hanging out in the gym playing volleyball.  No one really wanted to, but it was an obligation to pass the time as the stage was set up.  The volleyball team was in a match against the teachers.  Strong supporters and friends of the volleyball team were all on the benches and side lines cheering them on while pretty much the rest of the class was against the wall just sighing in annoyance.

Ryuji and Akira were there, just watching the game take place.  They chatted a bit but they both looked up when Asa and her two friends walked up.  They, just like everyone else were in their gym attire – red jackets with white shirts and red shorts.

Jun leaned to her and complained, “Uh… of all the people you want to hang out with, it’s these two?  The school wide trouble maker and the criminal?”

Asa giggled.  “Only thing he’s guilty of is stealing my heart.”  She dropped down on the other side of him, as close as she could.

Akira smiled at her.  “I was getting worried about you.”

“Sorry Jun and Bar-bar were complaining.”  Asa confessed.

“Jun and Bar-bar?”  Ryuji repeated.

“These two.”  Asa pointed up at her two friends.  They sighed and sat down with them.

Immediately, between the conversations, whispers could be heard going up about all of them getting involved with the wrong crowd.

Ryuji complained angrily and loudly, “Man I hate this school and this bullshit gossip!”

Asa looped her arms around Akira’s and rested her head on his shoulder.  “I don’t care.  Just ignore it.”

Akira smiled softly but he was distracted when shouts went up.

One of the students who’d been on the volleyball team was hit hard in the face and hit the ground.   Kamoshida then rushed over to him, acting like he was all worried, but they knew the truth.  Akira narrowed his eyes.  “He puts on a good act, doesn’t he?”

Ryuji threw the volleyball.  “I hate that bastard…!”

The volleyball rolled by a girl who was walking up to them.  She hand a hand on her hip and glared down at them, but it was a snobby, I don’t want to be here, kind of glare.

Ryuji’s eyes widened.  “Akira, it’s her…”

Akira looked up at the woman who flipped her hair over her shoulder.  “Talliya?”  He asked.

She scoffed and looked away, her eyes going to the friends she was usually seen gossiping with.  She then pointed a finger at them and growled, “Look all of you just act like I’m being a royal bitch to you okay?  I just need to tell Asa something.”

Asa glared at her.  “As if I have anything to say to a bitch like you.”

Talliya growled, “What you saw yesterday, keep it to yourself okay?  I’ll owe you.”

“You don’t owe me shit.  I don’t want anything of yours.”  Asa retorted.

Talliya curled her lip up.  “Forget it.  Just… stay in your damn lane, okay!?”  She stormed back over to her friends.

Asa narrowed her eyes after Talliya and whispered to Akira, “Don’t let on that I told you, okay?”

Akira nodded.  “Right.”

Once the stage was all set up, the students were directed to go sit in the stands and wait for the ceremony to begin.  Asa, of course, sat down with Akira and Ryuji and her two friends, never once letting go of  his arm.  As Kamoshida and other teachers talked, she thought for sure she would be lulled to sleep.   But at some point during the ceremony she noticed a couple familiar faces off the side of the stage.  Her eyes widened.  It was her bandmates.  “What the…”

Akira looked at her, “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing.”  Asa stated quickly.

At the end of the ceremony, Kamoshida raised his hands.  “Now… to thank you all for being such good students and supporting our volleyball team as you do, we have a special surprise.  Last minute we were able to book a personal showing with local band you all seem to love and adore.  Our very own Nightmare Daydream!”

Asa’s eyes widened.

Ryuji laughed.  “You didn’t tell us you were going to play!”

Asa looked at him.  “I-I didn’t know.  No one told me…!”

“Man this is so exciting!  Hurry up and get down there!”  Ryuji ordered.

Akira worriedly asked, “Will you be okay?”

“Uh yeah… I just wish someone would have told me.”  Asa stated.  As soon as she stood, a spotlight went to her and the students all started cheering.  She blushed darkly and made her way down the stands, giving a few high-fives to hands that stuck out.  When she got to the stage, she looked at her fellow guitarists as they handed her guitar to her.

“Sorry for dropping this on you last minute but we thought it’d be totally cool!”  The bass guitarist told her.  “We wanted to play for our old school and when better than while one of our members are still a student here?  Besides we were bored.”

Asa frowned.  “I… don’t even know what set we’re playing.”

“Pick a song to start with and we’ll wing it.”  The other guitarist told her.

The drummer, who was already seated at his station started taping drums.  “Always on 4.”

Asa frowned more.  “Uh.  Okay.  Let’s start with… uh… Iodine.  I think that’ll be a  good  one.”

“Okay, I just also request that we play Mayhem, it’s my favorite.”

“Then… let’s close with our most popular – Centuries.”

Asa was frowning.

The drummer asked, “You alright, Squirt?”

Asa shook her head.  “I’ve only played in front of a crowd a couple times… and… never full of people I know…”

“Perfect time to get our feet wet.  Let’s go.  Don’t think, just sing like you always do.”

Asa nodded slowly.  Once they all had their equipment ready, they took their places.  Asa looked out at the crowd and felt her stomach drop.  They were all screaming and cheering and she felt her voice run hoarse.  She couldn’t do this.  She couldn’t do this.  The first crowd she saw was the popular girls, all glaring at her among cheering fans.  They were clapping to be part of the crowd, but they were obviously not interested in showing support.  It caused her anxiety to increase by ten fold.  None of these people knew her.  None of them.

She noticed a nod from Talliya.

She paused.  Was she…did she not…?

Asa mentally shook herself and continued searching the crowd, looking for where she’d just been sitting.  Barry, Jun, and Ryuji were all screaming at the top of their lungs.  Akira was clapping hard, his eyes right on her and suddenly the rest of the crowd disappeared.  Suddenly… it was just him.  It was just her and him.  And the song.

The music started.

Asa took a deep breath and when she opened her eyes, the crowd was gone.  Akira was gone.

The music rang in her ears and around her, a swarm of butterflies were lifting her up, guiding her along.  She was no longer in her school uniform.  She was tattoo’d, wearing combat boots and she was the music.

She was Ebony.

_ I say I wanna be healthy, but I turn up the noise _

_ The IV drips a steady stream of poison _

_ I think I’m just in love with the feeling _

_ Break my bones so I can feel them healing…! _

Jun and Barry started screaming louder when it appeared that Asa’s stage fright disappeared entirely.  She was working her guitar like only she knew how to and she was making the microphone sound good.  “Asa!!!  Louder!!!”

_ ‘Crazy’ is, I believe the medical term _

_ When we wanna recover, but we don’t wanna learn _

_ Keep breaking what’s been fixed a thousand times _

Asa stopped playing her guitar to point out to the crowd like she owned the stage.  Like the world was hers.

_ AND GIMME SOME MORE OF THAT IODINE! _

The whole crowd screamed and they were getting into it.  Asa was rocking and playing like she’d found her home on the stage and the rest of her bandmates were working to keep up with her.  There wasn’t even an ounce of quiver in her voice.

_ I can’t make reality connect _

_ I push till I have nothing left _

_ But if we want to wake up, _

_ Why we still singin’ these lullabys? _

_ I’ll run in circles till I crash _

_ One day these steps will be my last _

_ Depressions like a big fur coat, _

_ It’s made of dead things but it keeps me warm…! _

Unlike the rest of the school, Kamoshida was standing with the teachers at the far back of the stage, the only one not cheering and singing along.  Even the teachers were calmly rocking and clapping, some even singing along, but Kamoshida was stoic, just glaring at the stage.  Glaring at the way the student body called for her.

When the song came to a close, the area was filled with the screams and shouts of onlookers, people shouting for her.  Even though that was happening, she couldn’t hear any of it.  She panted and sweated, the thrill of the crowd turning her passion to adrenalin.   She’d never felt a high like this before.  Even when they were in the competition last week.  Nothing could compare to the feelings she was getting now.

The next song started with a faster, stronger, more rock n roll beat.  The boys were all headbanging and Asa was keeping up with every rift on guitar.  They were shaking the whole building with the sounds they made.

When the first verse rolled in the beat drastically slowed and her guitar dropped out so she moved up on the microphone and squeezed it between her fingers, letting her voice take control of the song.  

_ I’m so bored _

_ With this world that spins around me _

_ Used to make me dizzy _

_ I’m so tired _

_ Of these boys that hang around me _

_ Used to drive me crazy… _

The powerful beat slammed back in, causing all of them to jump in perfect sync while Asa belted at the top of her lungs.

_ A little mayhem never hurt anyone  _

_ where’m I gonna get some? _

_ A little bedlam ‘til I’m coming undone _

_ Where’m I gonna get some? _

The beat dropped back and once again the song belonged to Asa.  Sweat dripped down her face.

_ Cruel intentions _

_ Wind me in a spiral _

_ I’m waiting to unravel _

_ Twisted motives _

_ Drive me in a circle _

_ I’m dying to untangle _

Talliya was watching every move of Asa’s.  On stage, with the music blaring in their ears, she looked like a totally different person.  Her lips were curved in a smile she’d never seen on the student before.  For once her dark attire made her look bright, made her look like she belonged.

That staged belonged to her.  The rest of the band could stop playing and the crowd woud never stop singing.  But despite that, the lyrics were reaching her.  The lyrics that told her to break out of her shell, to be bored with this life.  To create some mayhem to get where she needed to be.

It felt like Asa was speaking directly to her.  Telling her to get crazy.

To her surprise, the beat kicked up even faster.  Now even Asa was head-banging during the verse and jumping around on the stage.  She fanned her arms up, getting the students into it.  In a swift motion, they all poured out of the bleachers and rushed right up to the stage, screaming for the band.  The beat slowed again, only to rise with Asa’s voice as she screamed to the crowd.

_ I wanna feel the chaos _

_ I wanna feel the uproar _

_ A little pandemonium _

_ I know I’m not the only one _

_ I wanna be blown away _

_ I wanna feel the walls shake _

_ I wanna feel the walls shake _

**_ I wanna feel the walls shake _ **

Asa screamed the last lyrics, spinning and jumping and rocking.  The stage was her entire world and she didn’t care who was looking.  Talliya let out a scream as Asa shook the walls with her voice.  She wanted to find her place, just like this.  Just like she had.

As the song finished, Asa came to a stop at the microphone, resting her forehead against it.  She worked the ribbon off from around her neck and buttoned the first two buttons of her shirt, fanning it to get some air.  She straightened back up and looked over the crowd like she just realized it was there.  Her face was flush, but her eyes were glistening and bright.

The main guitarist spoke into his mic.  “We got one more for you kiddos.   Thanks for letting us play here with you.  Thanks for your support.  We hope one day you’ll continue singing with us on the radio.”

The crowd screamed.

Asa raised her hand and they screamed louder.

She took a breath and began their final song.

_ Some legends are told _

_ Some turn to dust or to gold _

_ But you will remember me _

_ Remember me for centuries…! _

_ And just one mistake _

_ Is all it will take _

_ We’ll go down in history _

_ Remember me for centuries…! _

_ Mummified my teenage dreams _

_ No, it’s nothing wrong with me _

_ The kids are all wrong _

_ The story’s all off _

_ Heavy metal broke my heart! _

_ Come on come on and let me in _

_ The bruises on your thighs like my fingerprings _

_ And this is supposed to match _

_ The darkness that you felt _

_ I ever meant for you to fix yourself _

Akira stared up at Asa as she sang.  He had never seen someone so beautiful before.  And the way she moved and swayed to every beat was captivating.  But her voice left his body shuddering.  He wanted to scream and cheer with the rest of the crowd, to scream her name but he couldn’t.  He didn’t feel like part of the crowd at all.

He felt like he was up there, with her, just the two of them.  If someone told him he would one day feel like this for someone, he’d never have believed it.  He would never have believed someone would just walk into his life and brighten his world, his outlook, his priorities.  He would never believe that someone would make him want to throw away everything to be with them.

His gaze swept over the crowd.  Not only that but there were a thousand students here screaming for her song and yet… she chose him.  She wanted him.

When he looked back up, their gazes met and locked.  Her lips curled into an even bigger smile and then suddenly it felt like she was singing right to him.

_ And I can’t stop ‘til the whole world knows my name _

_ ‘Cause I was only born inside my dreams _

_ Until you die for me, as long as there’s a light, my shadow’s over you _

_ ‘Cause I am the opposite of amnesia… _

_ And you’re a cherry blossom _

_ You’re about to bloom _

_ You look so pretty but you’re gone so soon! _

_ We’ve…been here forever… _

_ And here’s the frozen proof _

_ I could scream forever… _

_ We are the poisoned youth…! _

At the very end of the song, Asa took over the music, all guitars and drums stopped and she broke out acapella before the song came to a close.  The ring of the music was loud in everyone’s ears but the cheers were louder still.

Asa stepped back from the mic but her vision was dizzy and she was dripping with sweat.  She backed up several steps before joining the band backstage.  But as she ascended the steps, she realized she couldn’t breathe.  She wasn’t breathing.  She grabbed a bandmate’s jacket sleeve and pointed at her throat.

“Dude, it’s happening again.  You got it?”  He wrapped his arm around her to help keep her up and walked her to a bench that was close to them.  He carefully set her down on it while another guy brought her inhaler to her.

Asa grabbed at it and breathed deep, closing her eyes, finally able to relax as the medicine coated her lungs.  The bandmate who brought her inhaler smirked, “Man, I never heard of a singer with asthma before.  Unheard of.”

“I know but man she rocked that stage.”  The other guy chuckled.  “You take care of that precious voice of yours, got it?  We got a big gig comin’ up in a few weeks.  We need you to scream like you’ve never screamed.”

Asa looked down as she caught her breath.  She started to say something when a teacher walked up.  “A couple students are wanting back here.  Says their friends of yours but… er… it’s… Sakamoto and Yami.”

Asa blushed and nodded.  “They can come back.”

She looked unsure at the door.  “You sure?  Them?”

Asa nodded again.

A moment later Akira and Ryuji walked up and her bandmates whistled, “Thought you didn’t hang with dudes.”

“Dating them both or just one?”

“Bet she’s dating one, banging the other.”

Ryuji gasped.  “What the hell?  No man, we’re just friends.  She’s dating this guy.”  He playfully shoved Akira forward.

Akira blushed as he stumbled forward and then adjusted his glasses.  “I hope it’s okay we came back here.  We…”  He paused, looking at the inhaler in her hand.

Asa quickly tucked it away.  “It’s fine.  We were just wrapping things up so I’m going to be boring for a bit.  You can wait if you want, then we can talk.”

Akira nodded.  “Alright.”

The bandmates leaned to each other.  “Dude looks like a damned nerd.”

“Totally.  Bet he’s not even into our music.”

“That asshole’s actin’ like a king over here, too…”  Ryuji complained.  “Get to know each other better my ass.  That was just a one-man show for him to stroke his ego.  I’m surprised he had Asa go up there and sing though.  That was pretty cool.  She’d never played here before.  I’d heard her music on stations and news clips but never live.  You’d… never heard her at all before right?”

Akira shook her head.  “No.  It was… overwhelming…”

Ryuji smirked at him.  “Anyway, I can’t stop thinking about how he purposely hit Mishima and then acted like he was worried about him.  What an abusive d-bag… Anyway!  Now it’s the time to look for the faces we saw at the castle.  All the members of the team should be here today.”

Akira paused.  “Asa was there.  As well as that girl Talliya.”

Ryuji hesitated and then asked, “But you talked to Asa about it right?  She didn’t want to get anyone involved?”

Akira nodded.  “She’s worried about causing trouble for her mom.”

“Her mom?”  Ryuji rubbed the back of his head.  “Let’s uh… let’s start with the volleyball team first and work from there.”

“Work on what?  Can I help?”

Akira and Ryuji both jumped when Asa showed up.  An awkward look passed between them and Asa sighed.  “I get it.  Another boys only thing right?  Just… don’t get yourselves in trouble, okay?”

“Asa, wait.  It’s not that… We’re asking around about Kamoshida.”  Akira explained, causing a shocked look out of Ryuji.  “I… didn’t want you digging in deeper than you are.”

Asa stiffened up.  “Why?  What good will it do?”

This time Ryuji stiffened up.  “He’s been abusing you and other students.  Why keep quiet?  If you speak up, others will too!”

“They won’t!”  Asa shouted at him.  “The only thing this school cares about is bringing in money and the reputation of their renowned volleyball team.  If I complain about his actions the only thing that will happen to me is a call to the principal for lying as well as troubling my mother for having to deal with it.  They’ll then belittle her for not keeping a closer eye on me.  There’s no point in – “

“Have… you already complained about him?”  Akira asked.

Ryuji glanced at him and then back to Asa who cupped her arm to her side and looked down.  “I did…And as you can tell, no one knows about it.  That’s how seriously they took it.  The same will happen to anyone who opens their mouth against him. So please, save your energy and strength and just let it go.”

Ryuji punched the vending machine.  “I can’t!  Who knows what else he’s been doing!”

Akira’s eyes narrowed a bit.  “I can’t forgive him for hurting you… repeatedly, Asa.”

Asa’s eyes trembled and she lowered her head until her bangs covered her eyes.   “He’ll find out what you’re doing.  He’ll get you both expelled.  And then… you’ll…”

Akira’s eyes widened behind his glasses and he stepped to her before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his chest.  He pressed his face down into her hair and held her tightly.  “I won’t let that happen.”

Despite her protesting, they went searching for people to confess to Kamoshidas abuse.  As she knew though, their efforts were in vein.  No one was interested in going against someone with that much weight and power.  Not even her.  Not like this.

** After School **

Asa waited for them in the same spot, sitting on top of the vending machine eating an apple.  When they returned, Ryuji complained, “I got nothing on my end.  Did you get a name or… anything?”

Akira nodded his head.  “That Mishima who was hit with the ball.   He’s supposedly receiving special coaching…”

“Just a fancy way of saying getting his ass beat.”  Asa stated.  “Since Mishima isn’t very good, the only thing Kamoshida would want him for is to take his anger out on.”

Akira frowned up at her.

“It’s true.”  Ryuji exclaimed.  “I always see him covered in bruises.  Let’s go talk to him before he leaves, then.”

At the gate of the school, they caught up with the blue-haired boy.  He was walking with a slow step, his expression down-trodden.

Ryuji asked him, “Hey, you got a sec?”

“Sakamoto…?” Mishima asked.  “And… you too?  Yami… was it?”

“It’ okay, we just wanna talk. ”  Ryuji shifted.  “So… Kamoshida’s been…  _ coaching _  you?  You sure it’s not just physical abuse?”

Mishima withdrew.  “Certainly not!”

Ryuji crossed his arms.  “What’re you talkin’ all polite for?  Anyways…We saw him spike you today.  Right in the face.”

“That was just because I’m not good at the sport…”  Mishima confessed.

“That doesn’t explain the bruises you’ve got.”  Ryuji pressed.

“They’re from practice!”

“Is he forcin’ you to keep quiet?”

“That’s – “

“What’s going on here?”  Kamoshida demanded, walking up to all of them, his eyes narrowed.  He looked at the quiet boy, “Mishima, isn’t it time fro practice?”

Mishima stammered, “I’m… not feeling well today…”

Kamoshida put his hands on his hips.  “What?  Maybe you’re better off quitting then.”

Asa looked behind the coach, seeing that Talliya was waiting at a short distance with her bag.  She was getting another ‘ride’ again.  Asa narrowed her eyes.

“You’re never going to improve that crappy form unless you show up to practice.”  Kamoshida barked at Mishima.

Ryuji got in the teachers face.  “Didn’t you hear?  He ain’t feelin’ well!”

“Well Mishima?”  Kamoshida ignored him.  “Are you coming to practice or not?”

Mishima dipped his head, his hands clenched at his sides.  “…I’ll go.”

Kamoshida turned back on Ryuji now.  “As for you, any more trouble and you’ll be gone from this school for sure.”  He looked back at Talliya.  “You catch that?  Tell your friends about how this punk threatened me out of nowhere.”

Talliya nodded.  “Yessir.”

Ryuji glared at her.  “What the hell?  Don’t listen to him!”

Kamoshida looked over at Asa and his eyes narrowed.  “Great performance today.  Don’t soil your fame by being involved with this crowd.  You’re just making a fool of yourself.”  He turned and started to storm off.  “Get to practice, Mishima!”

Talliya followed without another word.

Once they were out of earshot, Mishima whispered, “Everybody knows… the principal, our parents… they all know and they all keep quiet about it.”

Ryuji’s eyes widened.  “Is that a joke?”

Mishima shook his head.  “Don’t be a pain.  You don’t understand what I’m going through.  Shouldn’t you of all people know that nothing’s going to help?”  He rushed off.

“Now what?”  Akira asked.

“Now enough.”  Asa told him.  “Please… before Kamoshida does something to you guys.”

Ryuji sighed.  “I want to try once more.  That’s all I can do.”

Asa sighed heavily as well, watching him head out for the day.  She looked up at Akira.  “There’s no convincing you, huh?”

He shook his head.  “I know you don’t seem to be bothered by it, but…I can’t forgive him for what he’s done to you… what he’s still doing.”

Asa nodded, reaching over and taking his hand.  “Let’s go home…”

He led her out and reminded her, “We have more to talk about tonight when I call.”

“I know…”  Asa confessed.


	5. 4/15

Before School

Asa was leaning back on the stool in her bathroom.  She was brushing her teeth with her hair up in a weird ass bun with all of her blue and black strands going in every direction.  She had her phone on a dock, music blaring throughout the tiny apartment as she was getting ready for her day.  Ocassionally she’d get distracted from getting ready when the music would hit a good beat and she’d rock out in air guitar, dancing around, not caring how much of a mess she made.

She was getting absolutely lost in her morning routine that she completely lost track of what time it was.  

A knocking interrupted the song she was currently rocking out to and she lowered the volume and made her way to the door, expecting it to be mail or a landlord looking for money.  Her mom left the check on the table and she picked it up and opened the door.  “Mornin’ sir, here – “

Asa dead stopped when she saw that it was Akira smiling softly at her.  Her eyes widened and without even thinking, she immediately slammed the door on his face.  Asa whipped around, gasping in shock.  She quickly rushed back to the bathroom and spit the toothpaste out of her mouth.

Meanwhile, Akira patiently waited on the other side of the door, chuckling to himself.  Her expression just then was definitely the cutest by far.  And he’d never seen her looking so adorable and vulnerable.  Her hair undone, no make-up, toothpaste all over her face, and her skin positively glowing.  But the red of her cheeks when she realized it was him was the best part.  Resting his hands in his pockets, he tipped his head back, a smile on his lips.

When the door opened back up a bit later and that nervous creature poked her head out and looked at him, he thought his heart would shatter.  He gave her a reassuring smile.  “Sorry, I showed up a little early.”

“…yeah.”  Asa whispered, her face still crimson.  “I… thought you were the landlord looking for rent…”

He chuckled.  “I’m jealous your landlord would get to see you looking so cute.”

Asa glared at him.  “Cute!?  Are you kidding?   Gah, come on get in here before I change my mind.”  She slunk back in and Akira followed, chuckling the whole time.

When the door shut behind him, he glanced around, but his laughter and humor disappeared.  There was nothing in this apartment.  Just enough furniture to be livable, but no decorations or anything.  He set his bag down by the door and took off his shoes and he started to mutter, “Sorry again about showing up too early.  I was just… overly excited when you said I could pick you up.”

“Liar.”  Asa teased from in the tiny bathroom.  “You just wanted to sneak a peek at me before I was prepared.”

“Hmm…I won’t argue with that.”  Akira told her, glancing around in the kitchen.  He didn’t see much cookware.  She probably ordered out a lot.  Another thought dawned on him.  “Your mom already head out for work?”

“She didn’t come home last night.  She sent me a text saying that she was picking up a third shift. “  Asa called out.

Akira made his way to the open bathroom door and watched her as she played with her hair, doing whatever magic tricks she did to make it curl just right to shape her face.  He leaned his head on the door frame.  “You’re here alone, a lot, huh?”

Asa blushed darkly.  “I…”  She paused in messing with her bangs and looked at him through the reflection of the mirror.  “Don’t get the wrong idea and think she’s a bad mom.  She busts her ass.  I uh… I wasn’t intentional.  My parents were both really young and I wrecked their chance to go to college and earn a degree.  When I got a tiny bit older, my father started working longer shifts and more hours so my mom could start going to school.  They had plans to switch off so they could both get their degrees and… earn more money.  They would tell me all the time how bad they felt that I had to grow up in poverty, but that they’d make it up to me once they got their degrees.  They’d make sure I’d go to college and get everything I needed.”  Her hands came to rest on the counter, her fingers trembling as emotion swelled up in her throat.  “A few months ago my father died in one of the infamous subway accidents.”

Akira gasped in shock.  

Asa closed her eyes tightly.  “It ruined everything.  Especially for my mom.  The class she’d been attending she failed cause she started pulling as many shifts as she could.  With her spare time she’d get me the things I needed – cooking for me, shopping for clothes – whatever it was.  She made me priority one and school priority two.  But she apologized to me that it would impede my future.  Never a complaint that her dream was ruined…”  Asa took a deep breath.  “ I recently learned that she didn’t even enroll in her next classes and that she’d dropped out of the college she was attending.”

Akira watched as Asa slowly went back to curling her hair without another word.  “Your mom sounds like an amazing person.  It’s no wonder you’ve turned out so well.”

Asa smiled a bit, before it turned into a glowing, full toothy smile.  “Yeah.  She beat me pretty good when I did bad things.  She taught me what was important.  Through words and actions.  But… honestly my dad was the more compassionate one.  I…miss him.  I can only imagine how mom feels.”

Akira watched her for a moment before he asked, “Can I help?”

“Huh?”  Asa asked, turning her head suddenly and burning her finger a bit.  She winced in pain and dropped the curler.  Without missing a beat, Akira stepped in and gently took her hand, bringing her burned finger to his lips and kissing it softly.

Akira smiled softly against her skin, “Your mom seems pretty overwhelmed.  Let me help pick up some of the slack.  I don’t know how exactly but… maybe with shopping or something.”

“Akira…”  Asa whispered.  She pulled her hand back from his lips but only to reach up and wrap her arms around his neck.  He was on the exact same page and as she leaned up to him, he leaned back in, kissing her slowly and softly.  His hands slid carefully down her body and wrapped around her lower back.  He massaged slowly up and down her spine, carefully pulling her in closer so their bodies were flush.  She gig gled a bit into the kiss and  they both had to part but they kept their foreheads together.  “Five days.  Just five days and I feel like I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“You won’t have to.”  He whispered back, tipping his head up and kissing her forehead.  “You’re stuck with me, Asa.  Now finish getting ready or we’ll both be late.   We need to grab breakfast, too.”

“Oh yeah mom didn’t make anything since she didn’t get back last night.”

Akira smirked at her.  “I’ll start there.  I’ll get you something on our way to school.”

Asa smiled again.

Morning

It was now between classes.   Just as before, there was no progress made on getting people to speak out against Kamoshida.  In the lounge area in the courtyard, they had met back up again.  Asa was sitting on the back of the bench, Ryuji was standing with his arms crossed, foot tapping irritably.  Akira leaned against the wall next to Asa, his hands in his pockets.

“Dammit.  What the hell…”  Ryuji snarled.  

“Didn’t find anything?”  Akira asked.

“Is that what it looks like?”  Ryuji seethed.  He slammed his fist into the vending machine.  “All of ‘em kept sayin’ the same shit Mishima was talkin’ about!  Kamoshida has to have told ‘em all something!”

Asa looked up at him.  “Or… they’re in the same boat I am and are worried it’s going to cause more trouble for them and their families and not accomplish anything.”

“That’s bullshit!” Ryuji shouted.

Akira grumbled at him, “Don’t yell at her.  She has a point.”

“Then…!”  Ryuji stomped a foot.  “Then we’ll have to go to him directly…”

“Maybe we should have started with that.”  Akira suggested.

Asa looked up at him quickly.  “No!  Don’t!”

Akira frowned at her but Ryuji rubbed his head.  “Isn’t there anything else we can do?  I can’t just give in like this!  Can you think of anything?”

“We could just call the cops.”  Akira suggested.  “We won’t say any students names so it doesn’t come down on them.”

Asa shook her head.  “I already did that, remember?  They call the principal who tells them everything is fine and then word gets back to Kamoshida and…”  She looked down.

Akira narrowed his eyes.

Ryuji added, “We could try a sneak attack but if we got caught, we’d be seriously done for.  What do we do…?”

Akira looked over at Ryuji and whispered, “What about… his  _ home _ ?”

Asa glanced up, noticing the weird way that he said home and she realized what he was referring to, but that they didn’t know who she was.  There was no easy way to bring that up at this point.  Or explain that other personality of hers.   Her gaze went past the two of them and to the bushes.  She saw a small black cat with blue eyes and it flicked it’s head.  She nodded and hopped up. 

“Hey, you guys seem super busy with stuff and I told Jun and Barry I’d chat with them, so I’m going to head to my next class.”  Asa stated.

Ryuji nodded.  “Alright.  Later.”

As Asa started to go, Akira grabbed her wrist carefully.  His gaze was intense as he whispered, “Keep your phone in your hand…don’t go anywhere near Kamoshida.  If you… even see him… just… call me and put your phone in your pocket.  I’ll find you.”

Asa paused.  “You know… we could get evidence that way.  If I found him, with my phone on and caught him in the act…”

Ryuji’s eyes widened.  “That could actu-“

“No.”  Akira said with finality.  “No way.  I will not let you be bait, understand?  I will not put you in harms way to catch this bastard.  We’ll find another way.”

Asa’s gaze softened and Ryuji asked, “What other option…?”

Akira looked down, slowly releasing her hand.  “No.  Just no.”

Asa nodded.  “Okay.”  She kissed his cheek.  “I hope something else comes up.”  She hurried off.

Ryuji looked at him.  “I don’t really like the idea either dude, but…that would give us evidence… and…”

Akira was shaking his head.  “She’s been through enough.  I won’t drag her into this.”

Ryuji started to open his mouth again when a voice interjected.

“There you are!”

The cat that Asa had spotted jumped up on the table.  But Ryuji looked at Akira in confusion.  “Did you say somethin’?”

Akira shook his head.

The cat hissed at them.  “I’ve been looking all over for you!  You guys can’t just run off whenever you feel like it!”

Ryuji gasped, “That voice is… Morgana?”

“Yes it’s me.  I’ve been trying to track all of you down since you left the other day. ”

“So… you  _ are _  a cat.”

“I am not!  This is just the form I took on when coming to this world!”  Morgana shook his head.  “Anyway.  I came here to discuss important things with you.  I intend to help you, in exchange for you assisting me – since you seem to be having such a tough time.  I heard you mention witnesses?  If you agree… I can tell you a thing or two about Kamoshida…”

Ryuji just rolled his eyes and shook his head.  “No way, cat.  Go find that skanky Ebony chick to bother.”

Morgana shook his head.  “I thought about it but I can’t really do anything in return for her.  I only want to make a fair deal.  I can help you guys.”

“Eh…”  Ryuji looked at Akira.  When Akira nodded, Ryuji reluctantly said, “Okay, fine.  Tell us more.”

Moragana started licking his paw and growled, “Alright, alright.  It has to do with what Akira was just talking about earlier.  You’ll need attack his castle.”

“Like how?”  Ryuji demanded.

“That castle is how Kamoshida views this school.  He doesn’t realize  what happens in there, but it’s deeply connected to the depths of his heart.  Thus, if the castle disappears, it would naturally impact the real Kamoshida.”

“What would happen?”  Akira asked.

“A Palace is a manifestation of a persons’ distorted desires.  So, if that castle were no more…”

“His desires would go with it.”  Akira deduced.  He turned to Ryuji.  “What do you think?”

“Hell yeah!”  Ryuji shouted.  “If it’s gonna turn him good.”  He paused and asked, “Would that be really getting back at him?”

“Erasing a Palace essentially means forcing the owner to have a change of heart.”  Morgana explained.  “However, even though their warped wants disappear, the crimes they committed remain.  Kamoshida will become unable to bear the weight of those crimes and he’ll confess them himself.”

“For real!?”  Ryuji shouted.  “That’s possible!?”

“And since the Palace will no longer exist, he’ll never know what we did there as well.”  Morgana continued.  “Not only will we be able to bring Kamoshida down, but there won’t even be a trace of our involvement.”

“That’s amazing!  You’re one incredible cat!”  Ryuji shouted.

“True, except the cat part!”  Morgana yelled.

Now they were all feeling a little more chipper than before.  Ryuji asked, “So how do we get rid of the palace?”

“By stealing the treasure held within.”  Morgana answered.  “I’ll tel you more once you agree to go ahead with this.  It’s my most valuable, secret plan, after all.  If you want to help me out, I’ll gladly teach you.  What’s your call?”

Ryuji looked at Akira.  “Our luck’s runnin’ dry lookin’ for witnesses.  Guess we have no choice but to go along…”

Akira sighed.  “There’s no other choice.  Besides we have to do something soon… I’m concerned about Asa.”

Ryuji smirked.  “One track mind, man.”

“Good!”  Morgana cheered.  “Oh, right.  There’s one more thing I should tell you.  If we erase a Palace, there is no doubt that the person’s distorted desires will be erased as well.   But desires are what we all need in order to survive.  The will to sleep, eat, fall in love – those sorts of things.”

“What’re you gettin’ at?”  Ryuji asked.

“If all those yearnings were to vanish, they’d be no different than someone who has shut down entirely.  They may even die if they’re not given proper care.  So – “

“They might die!?”  Akira shouted.

“Listen to everything I say first!”  Morgana shouted back.  

“Their death would be our fault, right?”  Ryuji asked.

“Aren’t you determined enough to face those kinds of risks?”  Morgana asked.

Ryuji looked to Akira.

Akira looked down.  “As much as I want to stop him… I don’t want to kill him.”

Morgana groaned.  “Sheesh.  I come all this way and this is what I get.  It’s not like anyone will ever find out.”

“That’s not the point.”  Ryuji retorted.  “If we just go around secretly doin’ whatever we want, we’d be no better than that effin’ Kamoshida…”

“Isn’t this your only option?”  Morgana asked.  “I’ll come back later.  Make sure you’ve made your decision by then.”  With that, Morgana ran off.

Ryuji cursed, “Man, we’re gettiin’ all worked up for nothing…dammit!”

Akira suggested, “Let’s keep trying to find another solution.”

Morgana hopped up on Asa’s shoulder.  “I told them.”

Asa crossed her arms.  She’d been standing around the corner from the vending machines the whole time listening in.  She told him, “Just as I thought.  They aren’t interested in murder.  They’re only interested in protecting the rest of us.”

“At least they have it as an option now.  We’ll see if things change.”  Mogana stated.

Afternoon

It started pouring down rain.

All the windows were gloomy with the low-lying clouds.

Asa had gone to the bathroom halfway through class when she paused to look out the window, her mind filled with so many things.  Her gaze drifted up to the rooftop on the opposite tower.  She could see a student climbing over the fence.  Her eyes slowly widened when she recognized the silver-brown hair.

It felt like a switch went off inside of her and before she knew it, her feet were moving on their own.

A couple students were also looking out their windows as well and started shouting, “She’s going to jump!”

“She’s in trouble!”

“Someone stop her!”

“She’s going to kill herself!”

Akira had gone to the windows with the rest of the student body.  He narrowed his eyes when he recognized the girl was Talliya.  He felt a tap on his shoulder.  It was Ryuji.  "C’mon man!  We gotta stop her!”  Akira nodded and they both took off.

Talliya stared down at the ground.  Now that she was here, her toes just past the edge, her stomach was in her throat.  Was she really going to end it here?  Would this solve anything?

Her parents had been too busy to hear her complaints.  They didn’t have time to deal with the consequences of her confessing she was being raped.  That the teacher they admired, that the school they were so proud of was covering up these abuses.  But… if she ended her life… maybe it would shock Kamoshida into stopping.  Maybe it would bring investigators in asking questions.  Maybe people would start speaking up.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  No.  That wasn’t why she was doing this.  She could tell herself that all day.  But the real reason was that she needed a way out.  From this hell she was living in.  She needed to escape the darkness she was drowning in.  The fake life she had carved herself.

This was her only option.  Her gaze went to the windows  of the surrounding towers.  All the students’ eyes were on her. Yet no one was trying to stop her.  They just wanted more to gossip about.  No one here gave an actual damn about her life.

She stepped forward.

She closed her eyes.

She felt the rush of the wind as she let go.

Let go of everything.

The chainmail fence behind her jostled as she fell forward.

She was expecting to fall for a moment before everything would disappear, but something wrapped around her wrist and she felt herself yanked and slammed into the brick wall.  Screams erupted from the windows of the onlookers.

Talliya opened her eyes and looked up.  “What the…!”

Asa gritted her teeth.  She had a tight grip on Talliya’s wrist and her other hand was gripping the chainlink as tight as she could.  One foot was bracing on the tiny ledge.

Talliya yelled at her.  “What the hell do you think you’re doing!?  I didn’t ask you to save me!”

“No shit.”  Asa snapped back.  “But you didn’t have to.  No one should have to ask to be saved.  If we have the power to save someone, we should do it, regardless of circumstance.  I don’t know what drove you to jump today, but snap out of it!  You’re beautiful, you’re popular, you’re living a fucking fairy tale.  Why the hell do you want to kill yourself?”

“You don’t know anything!”  Talliya shouted at her.  “My life is not a god damn fairy tale!  You have some nerve coming here and saving me like you think I don’t have my reasons.”

Asa’s gaze softened a bit.  “I’m sure you do.  I was where you are… just a few months ago when my ol’ man died.”

Talliya’s eyes widened in shock.

Asa told her, “I’m not the only one making assumptions.  But I can promise you.  Whatever you’re facing, no matter how hard it is… it’s not worth dying for.”

Talliya kept watching her.  “You could have killed yourself trying to save me.”

Asa smirked.  “Still might… I… can’t hold on much longer.”

Talliya’s eyes widened in fear.  “Don’t let go!   I take it back!  I don’t want to die!  And I don’t want you to die because of me!”

Asa looked past Talliya for a moment before looking back into her eyes.  “Good answer.  Keep fighting, girl.”  She let go of her wrist and Talliya dropped, letting out a scream as she did.

But it was short and cut off after only a story when she fell into a set of strong arms.  The guy laughed as he immediately pulled her in to his chest and back inside the window he was leaning out.  He fell back against the wall and sighed.  “Good god that was a close call.”

Talliya looked up at the blond, dorky troublemaker and her eyes widened.  “S-Sakamoto?  You… caught me…”  She blushed darkly, realizing that she was cradled against his chest, his strong arms around her.  But his expression was so soft and playful.  

He grinned down at her.  “Don’t scare us like that.  That was a close call.”

“Th-thank you…”  Talliya whispered.  She started to say something else when her two popular friends rushed up and started snapping photos.

“Oh my god… you totally tried to kill yourself!”  One shouted.

The other asked, “Is it cause this dude has been harassing you?  Let’s like… call the police.”

“No… he… saved me.”  Talliya told them and then her eyes widened.  “A-asa!”  She shot up and leaned back out the window, looking up.

Asa’s body was shaking with adrenalin, but she was relieved that Ryuji had caught Talliya. She was glad he was there at all because her arms were trembling.  Just as Ryuji had caught Talliya, her grip slipped but an arm came through the fence and grabbed a hold of her arm and jacket, holding her up from sliding off the ledge.  She looked up at Akira with a smile.  “You’re always in the right place at the right time, you know that?”

Akira gave her a soft smile.  “How reckless of you.  But... you saved her life, Asa." He reached his other arm through, carefully pulling her back to the fence.  He gently ordered, “Climb back up and over to this side.  I’m not going to stop being over protective until you’re away from that ledge.”

It started to rain and Asa leaned forehead against his through the fence.  “Who are you kidding?  You’ll never stop being over protective, period.”

He smiled.  “Hurry up anyway.”

She did as he asked, climbing slowly up the fence, but his hands remained on her at all times, so that if she slipped on the now wet fence, she wouldn’t fall.  Once she was on top, he let go and opened his arms for her to jump down into.

She expected a romantic scene where she’d jump down and he catch her and they’d spin around and he’d kiss her, but instead, when she jumped down, she slipped and fell awkwardly towards him, causing him to catch her weird and they both just collapsed down into the rooftop.

They both started laughing.   Asa lifted herself slowly up to her elbows, hovering over him as the rain poured down on them.  She giggled softly and pushed his glasses up carefully so she could see his face.  His black eyes were as warm and smoldering as ever.  Her fingers ran down and traced his lips before she leaned up and kissed him slowly.   It was several minutes before she finally pulled back and she rested her head back on his chest.  “Stay with me forever… Akira…”

He rubbed his hand along her back just as he had that morning.  “I won’t go anywhere… I promise you, Asa…”  He sat up and scooped her up, carrying her back inside.

After School

Asa and Akira were walking down the hall, about to head home for the day when Talliya stopped in front of them.  Her hard gaze went to the rumored criminal and she informed him flatly, “I need to speak to her alone.”

Akira hesitated and looked at Asa.  “Can you guys find a room to talk in and I’ll wait outside?”

Asa nodded.

Talliya scoffed.  “Seriously?  Fine.”  She motioned for Asa to follow her into a nearby art room.  She shut the door behind her and asked, “What’s up with that?  He own you like a dog?”

Asa frowned at her and shook her head.  “No.  He’s been worried about me since the Kamoshida incident.  He doesn’t want to risk I run into Kamoshida while he’s not around.”

Talliya glanced back at the door and nodded.  “I get it.  I… wish someone had done the same for me.”

Asa looked at her curiously.  “Are we about to talk about why you tried to kill yourself?  The school won’t shut up about it.”

“You heard him talk about giving me rides to and from school?”

Asa nodded.

“They aren’t car rides.”

“I… figured.”

Talliya gritted her teeth.  “The first time it was force rape.  He said he wanted to talk to me after school.  About my grades.  I went to his office…he locked the door and threw me against his chalkboard.  He shredded my clothes and no matter how much I screamed, he just laughed.  Said… if I told anyone it would just cause trouble for my family.  And he’d just find other girls to play with.  Said he’d leave everyone else alone if I just obeyed him.  So from then I… I went to him at his every beck and call.  My parents are… aware of our relationship having gone past teacher and student.  But they’re proud of me… for… seducing someone of high stature.  They think… it means I’ll do well going forward.  They have no intention of interfering and would be displeased if I tried to cut it off.”

“So… you just… let him rape you… over and over… cause mommy and daddy think it’s okay?”  Asa asked.

Talliya nodded.  “And so he won’t find another girl.  I’ll let him punish me all he wants if it means he’ll leave the other girls alone.”

Asa looked away and shook her head.  “So… today then…?”

Talliya smirked but it was a humerous smirk.  It was…defeat.  “He picked me up early for school.  He took me in his car and demanded pictures.  I tried to resist… but he just got angry and he…”  Her arms hugged herself close.  “I hurt all over and he still got his pictures.  I realized that I want to protect the others but… I’m not cut out for it.  So I thought… if I… killed myself… maybe… my parents would point the authorities to Kamoshida… maybe… they’d find the pics…Maybe someone would – “

“Killing yourself won’t help anyone.”  Asa stated.

Talliya nodded.  “I know.  I know that, but I… I was weak.”

“Only for a moment.  You’re strong otherwise.  Keep being strong for a little longer, okay?”

Talliya looked at her seriously.  “Those boys are trying to bring Kamoshida down, aren’t they?”

Asa nodded.

“Make it soon… please.”  Talliya ordered.  She headed back for the door and then added, “Don’t you dare tell anyone about these conversations, got it?  I’ll deny them.  You’re still a freakshow.”

Asa smirked.  “You’re still a bitch.”

Talliya stormed out and Asa stepped out next to Akira.  He asked, “How is she?”

“Awful.  As always.”  Asa smirked.  “Let’s go.”


	6. 4/16

4/16

Morning

“Principal Kobayakowa, who are these gentlemen?”  Kamoshida asked as he was passing through the principals office.  All of them were sharply dressed and looked well off.  Kamoshida straightened himself up and puffed his chest out a bit.  “Don’t suppose they’re with the government looking to offer grants to the physical education department?”  Without waiting for an answer, he stepped into the room and shook their hands.  “I’m Kamoshida, the volleyball coach.  Nice to meet each of you.  What are you looking for this time?”

Kobayakowa chuckled a bit and held his hand out.  “Actually Kamoshida, these men are here investigating our musical arts department for a grant.”

Kamoshida’s brow twitched.  “Oh?  Is that so?  What for?”

One of the finely dressed men smiled pleasantly.  “We have been hearing all the news about Nightmare Daydream and how their lead singer came from here.  We heard rumor that the music department was lacking in funds and so the student herself didn’t attend music courses.  We wonder how many rising stars we’re missing by not providing them opportunity.  We were wanting to provide a grant as well as meet the young lady and get her take on what this school needs most.  However, we have heard about how well your PE department is succeeding.  Congratulations, Kamoshida.  You have a fine group of students.”

He forced a smile.  “Oh yes.  I’ve taught them very well.  They’re – “

“Mr. Kobayakawa, as we’re discussing the PE department, we’ve actually been doing some investigation on revenue and we discovered that if we put funding into this project, having a stage designed for concerts and choirs will actually bring in an audience more willing to spend big money than at sporting festivities.  This project could actually become the new asset of this school.”

“Oh?  I had no idea!”  Kobayakawa continued.  “Do explain.”

“We would need to gear things towards students of course – they’re the big spenders.  And – “

Kamoshida shut the door on the gossiping adults and turned around, storming out of the office area.  His teeth were gnashing and his brows furrowed.  “No one outshines me...”

Afternoon

Asa smiled as she touched Akira’s shoulder as they walked back from lunch.  “Hey I gotta run to the restroom.  I’ll catch you  before our next class alright ?”  Before she could pull away, he pulled her in and kissed her sweetly.  She smiled against his lips before reluctantly pulling on away and running to the bathroom.

When she was done, she let a sigh of relief, splashing just a tiny bit of water on her face to cool it off, but not enough to mess up her make up.  When she stepped out of the bathroom, she turned just in time for an arm to warp around her neck and yank her back.  She gasped and tried to sink her nails into the arm of her attack but it did no good.  This arm was massive and covered her mouth so she couldn’t scream.  She fought as hard as she could, but there were no students left in hall and she wasn’t taken very far.

She was thrown into the PE faculty office.  She stumbled in, gasping for breath as she hit the ground.  She heard the door shut behind her and she reached into her pocket for her phone.   As soon as she had it free from her skirt, she swiped for her last contact and tried to call, send a message, anything.  But a foot came down on her hand and she let out a scream of pain.

Her phone rattled out of her grasp and across the floor.  She tried to reach for it again, but her attacker picked it up.  She slowly sat up and looked at Kamoshida who was now looking at her history.  “Hm… you seem pretty head over heels for this kid.  How cute and naïve.  Don’t worry.  I’ll fix that once I’m done with you.”   He tossed her phone onto his desk and yanked her up off the ground.

Asa tried to get away but he was so much stronger than her.  He slammed her into the wall by her collar and he snarled, “You have some god damn nerve trying to outshine me in my own school.”

Asa gasped.  “What are you talking about?  I didn’t do anything!”

“Bullshit!  People are now coming here saying you can earn this school more money than I can training the worlds best volleyball team.  I’m the only star here and you’re in the way!”

“I’m sorry!”  Asa screamed as she was thrown against his desk, hitting her head hard on the corner.  She slid back down to the ground, dropping her temple into her hand and begging, “What… do you want…?”

“Quit your band, quit singing.  Tell them there’s no hope for a music career here.”  Kamoshida ordered.

“Okay.  I will.”  Asa stated.  “I’ll do whatever, just leave me alone… please.”

“Good girl.  It seems you are trainable after all.”  Kamoshida chuckled and carefully helped her back to her feet.  “Glad we can see eye to eye.  Now.  Take off your shirt.”

Asa froze.  “What?”

“You heard me.  Take off your shirt.”  Kamoshida ordered again.

“N-No.  I won’t.”  

“I’m not asking.  Take it off.  I thought we were just starting to get along.  Every other student had learned to obey the rules but you continue to resist.  That ends today.  Take.  Off.  Your.  Shirt.”

“I… refuse.  I’ve never… taken my shirt off for anyone… I won’t…”

“Oh?  Cute.  I don’t care.”  Kamoshida grabbed her by the wrist and pushed her down onto the desk.  “You will start obeying me or I’ll make sure you and your stupid friends all get expelled.”

Asa’s eyes widened.  “Y-You can’t.  L-leave him out of this!”

Kamoshida’s brow arched.  “Oh?  Have I found your weakness?  If you don’t want him going to jail for his assault charges then you better obey me.”

Her resistence weakened the slightest bit.  “P-please no…”

The door to the faculty office opened and Asa felt a surge of hope until she realized who it was.

Talliya dropped her bag inside the door and she stared wide-eyed at Kamoshida.  “ You asked for me, sir -  What are you doing? ! ”

Kamoshida smirked at her.  “Perfect timing.  Lock the door.”

Talliya snarled at him, “This wasn’t part of our agreement!  You said you wouldn’t touch anyone else!”

“She’s the exception.  She’s defied me since day one.”  Kamoshida stated, stepping back from Asa.  She scurried off the desk and over by Talliya.

“No.”  Talliya argued.  “No exceptions.  If you do this then you’ll break our agreement and I’ll – “

“You’ll what?”  Kamoshida demanded.  “I’ve just been nice holding up my end of the bargain.  We both know your dad knows I’ve been fucking you every day.  In exchange, I say good things about him and he gets publicity.  He needs it with all these train wrecks.  But I’ll keep being nice and I’ll stick to only the two of you.  If either of you run out of here, I’ll start calling in other girls.  I’ll take it out on the whole school.  But before that, I’ll expel you and your stupid little criminal boyfriend.  Those are my terms.”

Talliya looked down at Asa who was shaking with fear.   Her attention went back to the pervert teacher.  “You already know my answer.  Let her leave.”

“If she walks out, she’s ruining the future of her and her boyfriend.”  He waggled his finger.  “Now.  Once more.  Shirts off.”

Asa was shaking.  This couldn’t be happening.  It couldn’t.  She couldn’t.  He couldn’t…!  Her eyes widened when Talliya casually slipped her school uniform top off.  The next words out of her mouth made Asa’s heart freeze.  “If you’re not going to leave, it hurts less if you do as he says.”

“Wh-wh – “ Asa let out a scream when Kamoshida grabbed her and ripped down the front of her shirt.  Her arms instantly went in front of her chest and she turned her torso away from him, her eyes wide, shock growing as realization settled in.

Kamoshida smirked at Talliya.  “You’ll have to teach her the ropes.  I don’t like when girls don’t submit to me.”

Talliya looked away.  “It just gets it over faster.”

Kamoshida rolled his eyes.  “Last chance.  Rest of the clothes go now.”

Talliya looked at the other girl.  “Asa, either leave or do as he says.”  She was sliding down her skirt.

“I-I…”  She whispered hoarsely.  “I… can’t…”

Talliya whipped around when she saw Kamoshida go for her.  She tried to intercept but he was too big and too fast.  He slammed Asa down into the ground, his massive hand squeezing her throat as he shouted, “Do not disobey me!  Do as you’re told!”  He gave her another solid punch right on top of the bruise that was still evident from his last physical contact.  But this time, Asa was mid scream and bit her tongue and lip and an iron taste filled her mouth.

Talliya grabbed his arm and held him back.  “Stop, Kamoshida!  Of course she’s terrified, you’re – “  She gasped when he jerked back, elbowing her in the chest and causing her to stumble and fall back into his file cabinets.  She trembled, watching as Kamoshida tore away at Asa’s clothes, a mountain looming over her, ready to crush her.  Talliya coughed.  “This isn’t fair… you swore… you said you wouldn’t.”

“Look at this.”  Kamoshida growled, lifting up Asa’s limp body like it was nothing.  She was conscious, but she was it utter shock, now naked and unable to move.  “She’s neither attractive or submissive.  She’s not going to be fun.  The only point in doing this is to make her understand that I’m in charge.”  He paused when a phone went off on the desk.  Kamoshida flicked his head.  “Talliya, answer that”

Talliya slowly got up and looked over at the desk.  “It’s… her phone, sir.”

“Who is it?”

“Akira.  He wants to know why didn’t wait for him for her next class.”

Kamoshida grumbled.  “If that punk comes looking for her…”  He looked back at Talliya.  “Say that she got sick and the nurse sent her home.  Then hurry up and finish taking your clothes off.”

Talliya frowned.  “Yes sir…”  She followed all of the orders she was given to a T.  But once she had finished stripping, the massive man grabbed and bent her over his desk.  Her eyes widened in shock and she bit her lip when he inserted himself into her with no preparation.  Tears came to her eyes just like every time  and the pain only got worse as he started thrusting into her.  He wasn’t gentle at all.  He was crude and rough and the desk rattled with every attack into her.  It felt like it lasted hours but she wasn’t sure how long she really was his toy.  Once he was done, he filled her with his seed and then dropped her onto the desk roughly.

She let out and awful noise and rolled over to a more comfortable position.  He glared at her, “You still haven’t missed a day of your pill right?  That’s the last thing I need.”

Talliya cursed under her breath.  “Of course I haven’t.  I equally don’t want to have a child from the likes of you.”

He put his hands on his bare hips and looked over Asa who was still frozen, an unmoving doll.  He asked, “Do you know if she’s on the pill?”

Talliya glared at him.  “I don’t even know her.  Of course I don’t know that.  I wouldn’t risk it though.  You humiliated her enough.  Just let her be.”

“Nah.  I’m ready for round 2.”  Kamoshida growled, picking her up and rolling her onto her stomach before lifting her onto her hands and knees.

Talliya looked away and closed her eyes, knowing what was about to happen.  “Please don’t… please leave her alone…”

“Time to teach her, her place…”  Kamoshida barked, grabbing a piece of her tattered clothes and stuffing her mouth with it.  She seemed to wake up a bit at this and she looked back at him but her eyes widened when she saw the position she was in, the position he was in.  He grabbed her hips and – 

Talliya winced when she heard the painful scream even through the clothes stuffing her mouth.  He made her stomach flip as she remembered her first time being attacked by the bastard.  She clawed at the floor and the wall, trying to get away but he just shoved his hand down between her shoulder blades and pinned her to the ground as he started thrusting.

Talliya slid off the desk and went for her clothes.  Kamoshida snickered, “Where do you think you’re going?  This isn’t a one round kind of day.”  He snickered.

Her eyes widened.  “What?”

He grinned more.  “I’ve got all afternoon to play with you girls.  So you get back on that desk and wait your turn…”

Evening

The rain had turned into an awful downpour.

Akira was sitting at the diner bar, staring at his phone.  He kept flipping through apps but he wasn’t talking.  He was just… waiting.

His guardian, Sojiro watched him a while before asking, “What’s wrong with you?”

He shook his head.  “Nothing.”

“Good.”  He barked.  “Then take your sour attitude upstairs.  I don’t want you scaring off customers.”  The student slowly made his way up the steps without a word.  Sojiro rolled his eyes.  “Kids these days.”

He put a glass up but paused after doing so when he noticed something out the window through the white wall of rain.  It was a figure of a person.  Curiously he set his stuff down and opened the door, the loud pour of the rain filling his ears.  He held his hand over his eyes to try and see better.

It was a girl, standing in the pouring rain with no umbrella.  Her clothes looked massively too big for her and her hair was covering her face.  He shouted, “What are you doing?!  You’ll catch a serious cold, girl!  Get in here!”

The girl took one step and collapsed.  Sojiro gasped and rushed out, picking her up off the soaking wet pavement and helping her back to her feet.  He struggled to hold her up and get the door open.  He shouted, “Hey kid!  Get me some god damn towels and help me out down here!”

Akira came back down the steps and as soon as he saw the scene at the door, his eyes widened in horror.  He grabbed a mound of towels and rushed to her.  He took her from Sojiro and started drying her off anywhere he could.  “Asa…?  Asa, talk to me.”

Sojiro blew on a cigarette.  “You know her?”

Akira nodded his head.  “This is her…the girl I’ve told you about…”

Sojiro arched a brow.  “This pretty little girl is your girlfriend?”  He paused.  “What happened?”

Akira carefully helped her into a booth and wrapped himself around her as well as the towels to warm her up.  He asked, “Do you want to change clothes?”

“…No…”

Akira frowned.  Something was very wrong.  “Asa… what happened?”

“I…can’t…”

Akira felt his heart aching.  “Please… tell me something… anything.”  He gently reached up and tried to brush her bangs out of her face so he could see her eyes but she jerked her head away.

“No!”

“Asa…?”

She carefully turned towards him, but her face still hidden while Sojiro placed a cup of tea in front of her.  She barely mused,

“He…raped me…”

There was a long moment of silence and Akira was in absolute shock, a whirlwind of emotions causing him to lock up.

But Sojiro shouted, “Who!?  Did you call the police!?  When did this happen?  Just now?  Where?”  While he was shouting questions, Akira pushed himself out of the booth, his eyes wide with pure rage and he quickly removed himself from the room.  He went to the tiny bathroom and shut the door behind him.  Moments later, screams of rage and bangs against the walls could be heard.

Sojiro calmly asked, “Who did this to you, Asa?”

Asa shook her head and Sojiro frowned more.  His voice changed to that of a caring, compassionate father and he gently whispered, “Stay here tonight, okay?  In the morning, give us details.  We will make the one who did this to you, pay okay?  I’m sure that boy has some clothes you can wear for the night.  Once he’s calmed down, get some from him, okay?”

Asa nodded, the towel slipping further over her head.

He asked again, “Are you sure you don’t want to call the police?”

She shook her head.

Asa sat there for close to an hour.  Sojiro closed the shop up and left and her tea grew cold.  The sounds of what she assumed was Akira punching a wall still lingered.  Slowly she got up.  She went to the bathroom door and knocked.

At first she thought he wouldn’t open the door, that maybe he couldn’t bear to see her, but then all at once, the door flew open and his rushed arms flew around her, scooping her up and yanking her in against his body.  She let out a struggled noise but she didn’t resist him.  In his rush to hold on to her, he stumbled backwards, tripping over the edge of the tub and falling back into it, bringing down the curtain and curtain rod with them.  The y  collapsed in the cold tub but held her tight, like he would never let her go again.  He buried his face into the towel covering her head and she could feel his shaking shoulders and hear the sobs into the top of her head.

“Asa… I’m so sorry…I’m so… so sorry… I’m sorry…”  He repeated over and over.  For how long, she didn’t know…She fell asleep shortly after they fell in, the weight of the day consuming her.  Leaving her feeling empty…

Night

Asa slowly lifted her head.  She was freezing.  Her pillow was harder than usual and the bed felt… smaller.  When she opened her eyes she realize that her pillow was lulling up and down.  It was… breathing.  She looked up, seeing the frizzy haired boy she had just recently fallen so hard in love with.  His head was leaned back on the edge of the tub, his arms were wrapped tightly around her.  She could still see the dried tearstains down his cheeks, jaw, and neck.  She adjusted herself slowly so that the towel on her head slipped off, but she tucked the towels around her body closer to her.  She reached up and touched his cheek.  “Akira…?”

He jumped a bit from his slumber and sat up.  His gaze widened on her a bit.  “Asa?  Are you okay?”

It took her a moment, trying to remember what had happened.  Why she would not be okay.  When she started to sit up a bit and she felt a sharp pain between her legs, she remembered.  The weight of it came rushing back to her and she looked down, her eyes wide with pain.  His hands reached out, cupping her face and tilting her head up to look at him.  “It’s okay.  It’s just you and me here.   But if you’re not okay… that’s fine, too.  I’ll take care of you until you are.”

Asa leaned into his hands and whispered, “Then… I’m not okay.”

Akira nodded his head, releasing her face as he reached down and gently picked her up.  He whispered softly, “I’m gonna take you to my room and get you a new set of clothes.  Take all the time you need to get changed and then call for me when you’re done.”  He set her carefully down on his tiny bed with a single blanket and single pillow and walked across his dusty, old room which was the entire attic of the café.  He reached into a box and started pulling out clothes.  He… didn’t even have a place for this clothes?  She looked around.  His place was worse off than hers.  He brought over a shirt and shorts and told her, “These are probably going to be really big on you… but they should be comfortable.”  He turned and started back for the steps when she grabbed his hand.

The look on her face was awful.  It was wide with horror and anguish and fear.  Everything he never wanted to see out of her was right there.  Not only that, but now that her bangs were out of her face and dry so they curled back up, he could see the newest bruises on her face.  In the same place but darker and more swollen.  Her fingers were shaking and she begged, “I can’t…”

He frowned.  “You can’t what?”

Her hand slowly withdrew and pointed at herself.  “These clothes are… his…he… tore up my uniform.  I…I can’t…”

Akira shook his head.  “I won’t be anywhere near you, you don’t have to worry.  I’m not going to ask you to undress around me.  But… you want out of those clothes, right?”

“Yes.”  She whispered hoarsely.  “I can’t explain though.  I just…I can’t… remove them.  I… don’t… want to touch them…”

Akira nodded.  “Would you be comfortable…If I did…?  I-I’ll close my eyes and everything.  I’m not trying to be a pervert, I just – “

“I need you to look.”  Asa whispered.  “I need to know how bad the damage is…”

Akira looked at her in confusion a moment before his gaze went down to the collar of her shirt.  Just at the top he could see another bruise peeking out.  His gaze slowly widened.  He could feel his stomach turn to stone.  He glanced up at her one more time before reaching down and slowly pulling the ugly large shirt off over her head.  He hesitated, watching her face to make sure it was okay before he looked down her torso.

All the blood drained from his face.  There were bruises and bitemarks all over her, especially around her breasts.  But then on lower, he could see a lot more teasing from the top of the shorts she was wearing.  His hands clenched on the sheets on either side of her hips.  The fucking bastard.  He’d destroyed her body only where it would be covered by clothes, where no one else would see.  So no one would suspect…

“It’s bad… huh?”  Asa whispered.  “Imagine… how bad Talliya is.”

Akira looked sharply back up at her.  “What?”

“She told me… she does this on a regular basis.  She was there.   He was doing the same to her.   He’d been doing it to her for a long time.  She… tried her hardest to help me…”  Asa paused.  “I’ll have to go back and do it again…”

“The hell you will.  Why do you think that?”  Akira demanded, trying to be as soft as he could despite the rage burning inside of him.

“If I don’t… he’ll expel you.”  Asa whispered.

Akira’s jaw went slack a moment before he ordered, “Then let him expel me.  Asa, you’re not going near him again.  If it were up to me, I wouldn’t even let you go to school.”

“If you’re expelled then – “

“I’ll deal with that.  I will not… I  _ will not _  allow this.  I swore I wouldn’t let it happen the first time.  I failed to keep that promise.  I have to protect you.   _ Not  _ the other way around.”

“Akira…”

He sighed and scooted her forward a bit.  “Let’s get you outta those clothes.   Then we can discuss this in the morning.”

She paused as he started to slip the new shirt over her.  She whispered, “He told Talliya and I to be there before school starts…”

Akira’s eyes narrowed.  “No.   Asa.  You’re not going, okay?”

“I c an’t let them take you away for  something that isn’t your – “  She stopped talking when he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.  

He whispered against her cheek.  “I won’t go anywhere.  I promise.  We… may have a way of fixing this.    So until then… I just need you to keep away from him…”

Asa looked up at him worriedly.  She wanted to ask what he was going to do, but she already knew.  “Whatever you’re doing… you can’t get caught…”  She tipped her head down into his neck as tears started escaping her.  He carefully lifted her up and slid the bulky shorts off of her and tossed them aside.  He tried his best not to look as he pulled away and grabbed the new shorts for her but he stopped when he saw.  The thick black and purple bruises between her thighs, the scratches on her hips.  His hands were shaking and his expression must have turned to fury because she grabbed his hands and cooed, “ Akira…look at me.”

He looked back up at her, but… it wasn’t the same.

He remembered that bright cheery smile he fell in love with.  That bright, to the point attitude that just tugged him along wherever she went.  Now her red eyes were lifeless and broken, but she was trying.  She was trying to smile and calm him.

“I’m no good a being a murderer…”  Akira whispered, helping her into her new shorts.  “But that bastard makes me wish I was…”  Once she was fixed up, he brushed her hair back and asked, “Do you need anything else?  More pillows or anything?”

She looked confused.  “N-no…”

“Alright.”  He kissed her forehead.  “I’ll be downstairs.”

Asa gasped, “Wait!”

“What is it?”

Her fingers hung in the air, not sure she should be asking for what she was asking for.  Her hand slowly lowered.  “I…”

He hesitated, “Do you want me to stay up here with you?”

She nodded.

“I’ll sleep on the floor.”

She shook her head.

“I’ll sleep on the bed with you?”

She nodded slowly.  “Don’t let me go, Akira…”

He took a deep breath and nodded as well before telling her.  “I’ll change real fast okay?  I’ll – “

She rolled over, indicating that she didn’t want him to leave.  He hurried to change into t shirt and shorts and carefully climbed into the bed behind her.  It was a tiny twin sized bed, so he didn’t have much option except to hold himself against her.  He softly asked, “Are you sure this is okay?”

She looked at him over her should as she scooted as close to the edge as possible.  She gazed into his black eyes as she pulled off his glasses and set them up on the windowsill.  “In my head right now…I feel filthy…After he…”  She cleared her throat.  “I… stumbled to the girls locker room.  It was the closest bathroom… I washed up for….hours… His filth wouldn’t leave me…”  She touched her neck.  “His hands around my throat… horrified me…  The pain he caused inside of me… it keeps… replaying in my head.  I feel… vile.  I would imagine… that most women who are raped would probably… be scared of contact but… I’m just scared of him.  I feel like he’s going to come up behind me and grab me again at any moment.”  He voice started to become panicky.  “I feel like he’ll slam me into the desk and rip off my clothes.  I can hear him laughing at my cries still in my ears…!  The only thing that stops this horrible paranoia… is… “  She squeezed his hand were it was resting on her side.  “Knowing you’re between us… Knowing… he won’t touch me while you’re right there…”

Akira closed his eyes and kissed her shoulder.  With new confidence, he wrapped his arm more around her so his hand rested on her stomach and pulled her body carefully flush to his.  He whispered, “Sleep soundly knowing he’s not coming for you tonight…not ever again.”

Asa snuggled into the single pillow they were sharing and as she began to relax, she whispered, “Akira…I love you…I know… it’s too soon…but I…”

He lovingly kissed her neck and whispered against her ear, “I’ve loved you for six days…”


	7. 4/17

4/17

Before School

Akira watched the rise and fall of Asa’s chest.  Despite the bruise on her face, as she lay sound asleep, it was easy to almost forget what had just transpired.  Her expression was soft and peaceful, not tortured and horrified.  She’d rolled onto her back at some point during the night, her blue and black hair scattered in perfect curls across the pillow.  Every second he gazed upon her, he fell more in love with her.

He couldn’t believe this would make only one week that they’d known each other.

It was true that people slept with each other often on the same night they’d met.  But he’d never heard of something like this.  This powerful emotion blooming within just hours of knowing each other.  His fingers softly traced her pale jaw line up into her hair and then traced back down along her neck and over her shoulder.  She was so soft.  She was a fragile, irreplaceable doll, and he had to protect her well without holding too tight or concealing what made her most beautiful.

Her long lashes fluttered and her eyes opened, looking up at him.  He continued to smile warmly at her and almost on cue the sun peeked through the blinds, right across their faces.  She yawned and stretched and then her rugged morning voice whispered, “Aki-kun?”

He grinned and leaned down to her, kissing her softly.  He  pulled back and the sunlight hit those red orbs, a soft sparkle returning to them as she asked, “Did you sleep okay?  I didn’t bother you did I?”

“Best sleep I’ve ever had.”  He assured.  They both looked up and over as Sojiro ascended the stairs.

He gave them a playful glare.  “Took the opportunity to share a bed, huh?  I should scold you both but considering the situation I’ll let it slide.”  More softly, he brought a chair over and asked Asa, “How are you feeling this morning?”

Asa frowned.  “Sore.  It hurts a lot.”

Sojiro and Akira exchanged a glare.  But when he looked back at her, he was soft again, “I’m sure.  Don’t push anything.  I’ll call the school.  Can I have your parents number as well, and let them  k no w  what’s – “

“No.”  Asa told him quickly.  “Please no.  Just the school.”

Sojiro frowned.

Akira added, “She’s got a single working mother.  She doesn’t want to stress her out.”

Sojiro sighed.  “I understand not wanting to stress them but a parent would want to know and help their – “

Asa shook her head.  “I know she would…but… just please no.”

He paused and then asked, “Then what about the police?”

Asa shook her head.

Sojiro sighed and rubbed the back of his head.  “Do you understand how serious this is?  Whoever did this to you is out there – “

“Raping other girls?  I know.”  Asa whispered.  “But because of the person it’s… complicated.  Please, thank you for sheltering me but… let me take care of this trouble on my own.”

“With Akira’s help, yes?”  Sojiro demanded.

“No – “

“Of course.”  Akira argued.  “I’ll help her any way I can.”  Sojiro nodded and started out but Akira cleared his throat.  “Sir… if… you don’t mind.  I… intend to stay here with her today.”

Sojiro sighed.  “One week in and you’re causing me so much trouble…”  He walked on down the steps but they took that as an implied yes.

Asa frowned at him.  “I’m sorry that this is causing – “

Akira pressed his finger to her lips and kissed her forehead.  “None of this is your fault.  Don’t you dare apologize for any of it.”

Afternoon

Asa nibbled at her curry, her back up against the bed.  Akira was sitting behind her, pulling her curly black hair back into small little braids.  He did so after accidentally putting her back to sleep this morning while playing with her hair, uncovering that she loved having her hair messed with.  Now he was doing it just to relax her and make her happy.  Numerously she told him he didn’t have to keep doing so… but her body relaxed more with each moment he did so… And that’s what he wanted more than anything.

He came to a stop and asked, “Asa… would you be okay on your own for a bit?”

Her eyes widened a bit before she looked up at him curiously, wondering why he was asking, “Where are you going?”

He gave her a worried look before explaining, “I need to talk to Ryuji about what happened.  So I can tell him that we’re going to continue our plan to go after Kamoshida.”

“Your plan…” Asa whispered.

“I know you’re worried and have some questions but… trust me… okay?”

“You won’t get in trouble?”  Asa asked.

“I can’t.”  He agreed, tipping her head back softly and kissing her forehead.  “If you can’t do it here alone, call me and I’ll come right back, okay?”  He paused a moment, remembering that his phone didn’t work in the metaverse.  His stomach knotted up.  But he had to go there and defeat Kamoshida.

Asa looked down at her knees for a lengthy amount of time before sighing and looking back up at Akira.  She told him, “Don’t… go to jail or anything… okay?  Promise you’ll come home?”

His gaze softened and he leaned forward more until his lips rested on hers and he whispered, “Would you like for me to bring home dinner?  Chinese take out?”

Asa gave a big grin.  “I’d love that.”

Ryuji stood against the rail of the bridge, his eyes were glazed over as he looked at the small river that ran between their towns.  He gave no notion of noticing Akira when he walked up, hands in his pockets.  Akira spent a moment gazing over the water as well before asking, “What’s on your mind?”

Ryuji looked down, his voice a low growl.  “What do you think man?  That sick bastard has been raping them…This whole time!  On top of everything else!”  He pressed his palms to his temples and then over his eyes as he groaned.  “Your text last night… I couldn’t believe it.  I just… as much as I hated him, I wanted to believe he wasn’t that bad.  But…”  Ryuji’s voice drifted a moment.  “That girl I caught…Talliya…When you two didn’t come to school today…the thought sank in more.  That you really did send that text… that he really did that.  And… I thought about her.  About her committing suicide.  So I thought…what if…”

** Ryuji slammed his palm on a locker door, sending girls scattering in fear except Talliya who continued switching books out of her locker.  She calmly demanded, “What do you want, troublemaker?” **

** “I want answers.”  Ryuji growled, angered by the fact Talliya wasn’t even looking at him. **

** “I’m sure there’s better people to turn to than me.  I can’t help with your problems.” **

** “Kamoshida…” **

** Talliya stiffened up and turned, eyes narrowed on him.  Her heart was thundering with rage. **

** “Did he… rape you too?”  Ryuji whispered, his tough-guy act vanishing. **

** If Talliya was a cat, her fur would be bristling.  “So she told you, huh?  Figured she wouldn’t be able to keep her stupid mouth shut.  That’s nobody’s business except – “ **

** “She didn’t say shit, okay!?”  Ryuji shouted at her.  “I don’t even know the whole story.  I just know my bud told me it happened to her and after that stunt you pulled on the roof, I thought – “  He paused, as though he didn’t know how to finish the sentence himself.  He sighed.  “I thought maybe I could help somehow… or… maybe you could talk about it… so you don’t…you know… get that bad again.” **

** Talliya’s eyes were shaking with anger but she didn’t immediately turn away from him.  After glaring into his face for some time longer, she finally sighed.  “I don’t need anyone to talk to.  The roof had nothing to do with Kamoshida.  Mind your own business, track traitor.” **

“Harsh…”  Akira told him.

Ryuji shook his head.  “I know she was lying and in turn she was calling me names to get me to leave her alone.  So I don’t get dragged in.  But I’m already in.  We’re already past the point of no return.  Even if it wasn’t them… I’d still have to…”

Akira turned his head.  “So…even with the possibility of killing him?”

“We gotta risk it…who knows who he’ll go after next and what he’ll do…”  Ryuji whispered.  “I could sleep better at night having killed him than done nothing and someone commit suicide or his acts get worse and he seriously hurts or kills someone.”

Akira stared at the sun that was starting to dip down between tall buildings in the distance.  He confessed, “I can’t stand here and pretend to be as righteous as you.  In fact if I’m being honest… I don’t really care if we kill him now.  If… I had the gall to kill him myself… I would.  For what he did to Asa.  But… I promised her that I wouldn’t do anything that would separate me from her.  That means I can’t get myself hurt or go to jail.  Limits my options.  This is the only answer.”

Ryuji nodded his head and pulled out his phone.  “Then… shall we?”

Akira nodded.

Inside the metaverse, the two boys were now in the unique costumes from before.  They were outside Kamoshida’s castle, also like the last several times they’d come.  Ryuji, as excited as always, turned towards Akira and shouted, “All right!  Time to bust on through…!”

But to their surprise, the familiar black monster cat – Morgana – was sitting in front of them, a huge grin on his face.  “I was wondering when you two would return.”

Ryuji complained, “Great it’s you.  Where’s the slut?”

Morgana paused and then looked away.  “She’s uh… busy with other things.  Her name is Ebony by the way.”

“Yeah yeah.  Well we were hoping to get  _ her _  help with stealing the treasure from this place.”

Morgana glared at them.  “Don’t you remember what I told you!  I know as much as she does and I can help!  That’s our deal!”

“Alright, alright, jeesh.”  Ryuji complained.

Morgana turned to Akira.  “I can count on you, right Joker?”

Ryuji gave him an odd look.  “Joker?  That a nickname?”

Morgana hopped.  “Don’t refer to it in such a lame way!  It’s a code name!  What kind of stupid phantom thief would use their real name!?  I’m not down for that!  And there’s no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have on the Palace…it’s just a precaution.”

“So uh… why’s he Joker?”

Morgana crossed his arms.  “Cause he’s a trump card when it comes to fighting strength.”

Joker chuckled.  “Not bad I suppose.  Though I can’t say I know much about the fighting yet.”

“You’ll get there.”  Morgana assured.  “It’s settled then.  Next up is you, Ryuji.  You’ll be…let’s see…Thug.”

Thug glared down at him.  “Are you picking a fight with me!?  I’ll choose it myself!”  he straightened up.  “Hm… when it comes to me… it’s gotta be this mask…Honestly, I actually kinda like it.  What if we named me after this?”

Morgana sighed.  “Fine.  Why not Skull then?”

Skull cheered, “Aw that sounds awesome!  I’m Skull!”  He nudged Morgana with his shoe.  “Now what about this one’s code name?”

“Hm… how about Mona?  That’s what you miss-called him before.”  Joker suggested.

Mona shrugged.  “If Joker thinks it’s easier to call me that, then I’ll go with it.  All right.  From here on out, we’re Joker, Skull, and Mona.  We need to be absolutely thorough about using those code names from now on.

The boys entered the palace but as soon as they went in, Mona broke off and ran down a hallway and took a sharp right into a dark narrow corridor.  Just inside that corridor, Asa sat with her back against the wall, a blanket over her shoulders, covering the casual clothes she’d been wearing at Akira’s that day .  She looked slowly over at Mo n a , her arms crossed in front of her chest, holding herself in the tightest ball possible.

Mona frowned as he sat next to her.  “Maybe you should go back for today.  Whatever happened to you… you can’t even summon the will to be your normal rebel self.”

Asa looked down.  “I need to keep an eye on them.  I… didn’t expect that I was going to be this bad…”

Mona nodded.  “Well… you are.  I’ll keep an eye on them, you go back home.”

Asa shook her head.  “I’ll be fine.  Get back to them, okay?”

Mona led the boys through the palace.  They didn’t get in too far before they heard Kamoshida in the main area shouting to his soldiers about keeping tighter security on intruders.  They had to go around the main lobby, sneaking around through the outside hallways.  Their goal was the treasure in the furthest depths of the castle, but they would have to get through it without Kamoshida noticing to get there.

While going down one of the halls though, they caught a guard from behind and were able to surround him.  The fearful guard begged for his life.

Mona demanded, “If you want to live, give us money.”

“Money?  Really?”  Skull asked.

Joker shrugged.  The guard confessed he had no money but recited a familiar phrase instead:

“I am thou.  Thou art I.”

Asa’s and Mona’s eyes widened as the shadow soul within the soldier glowed and floated over towards Joker’s mask where it disappeared.

Mona whispered, “He’s like her…”

Skull looked at Mona and shouted, “What the hell was that about?!  The enemy got sucked into Joker’s mask!”

Mona shook his head.  “I… didn’t think he’d also have this power… There’s…a slim few people who can – “

Asa glanced down when the rafter she was climbing on started to give way until it broke.  She came tumbling down behind all of them and sat up and rubbed her head.  At the same time, another soldier heard the noise and came racing into the room.

Asa looked behind her and up at the glowing eyes of the soldier, her heart in her throat.  Without her persona, she was – 

Joker quickly scooped her up off the ground, his arm around her and pulled her in against his body while with his other hand he took his dagger and stabbed it into the neck of the shadow soldier, causing him to disappear into black dust.

Joker looked down at her with wide eyes.

Skull shouted, “What the hell is she doing here!?”

Mona’s jaw slackened, not sure how to answer.  Was she going to blow her cover?

Asa looked down as she whispered dejectedly, "I'm sorry, Akira... I just... I couldn't stay home alone.  So... I followed you.  I was worried what you guys were cooking up and so I..."

Joker wrapped both of his arms around her and pulled her in tight, burying her head under his chin.  "Sorry I worried you.  But this place is too dangerous for you to be running around in."

"Then... you shouldn't be here either."  Asa told him.

Joker shook his head, brushing his thumb along her cheek and cooing to her.  "This is where we're going to defeat Kamoshida.  It might be a little risky...but this is how I'm going to protect you... and make good on my promise."

Asa looked down and then nodded slowly.

Joker turned to Mona.  "Can you take her back to the entrance and the real world?"

Mona started to step forward but Asa grabbed Joker's jacket and shook her head.  "I'm not going back without you.  If you're staying here to fight, I am too."

Ryuji glared at her.  "That's not an option!  We've gotta fight bad guys!  They'll come after you, too!"

Asa buried herself more against Joker and whispered, "I can't risk him not coming back to me..."

Ryuji frowned but his composure softened and he looked up at Joker.  "What're you gonna do man?"

Joker ran his hand through her hair softly and sighed, "We'll just keep a close eye on her...Keep her away from the guards."  He looked down at the little black cat.  "Mona.  We'll focus on the guards... your priority is her, okay?  At all times."

Mona stared at the two of them before nodding his head.  "Got it."

Without further ado, they continued through the castle .  For the most part, the castle travel was rather boring, but at no point was Asa’s mind in it.  With every portrait they passed and she was reminded of Kamoshida, the darker her thoughts sunk.  She couldn’t get the past days’ events out of her head.  That ugly, horrid smile adorned with a crown.  The man who thought he was king and could rule over everyone.  The man who used people and things to promote himself.

Asa came to a stop at one of the statues.  Her fingers twitched as her heart fell to her stomach.  It was a nude statue of two people.  Kamoshida, as a king, hunched over a woman dressed provocatively.  He was having his way with her.  But even without the color to show the silver-blonde and dark chocolate curls, she knew the woman by the shape of her face.  It was Talliya.

Joker, Skull, and Mona stopped, seeing that Asa was no longer moving.  Her head slowly turned, seeing that statues like this were lining either side of the hall, all the way down to the end.  But each statue was a different woman he was taking advantage of.   Her eyes widened as she looked directly across from the statue with Talliya.

Skull grumbled, “This effin’ bastard is disgusting… he seriously thinks everyone of these girls are a prize?”

“A trophy.”   Joker corrected absently, his eyes on Asa the whole time.  “Each woman he ‘conquers’ is a win for him…”

Mona made a disgruntled noise.

Asa stared at the statue in front of her.  It was Kamoshida and… her.  She had on a collar, the leash tangled around his hand, pulling her back as though he were controlling her.  Cuffs around her wrists and ankles.  These other statues… she’d seen before and they meant nothing to her.  But now… seeing this one, the other statues suddenly became an awful, shocking reality.  Her hand went to her mouth and she felt her heartrate went out of control.  Joker, realizing what the statue was, quickly shoved it over and intercepted her line of sight with it  as the sound of breaking porcelain filled the air .  Like before, he wrapped his arms around her and held her against his body, cradling her gently.

Skull frowned and suggested, “Are you sure you don’t want to go back?  There’s a chance… there’s going to be more messed up stuff like this.”

Asa’s eyes were wide but she shook her head slowly.  “I-I can’t…”

Mona looked up at Joker and saw how worried he was over the girl.  He suggested, “If she won’t go back alone, maybe we should stop here for today.”

Skull started to protest but he paused, glancing back at the other two.  He sighed and rubbed the back of his head.  “It’d be for the best.”

Joker ran his hand through her hair and cooed, “Let’s all go back, Asa.  Okay?”

She closed her eyes tightly, her hands trembling against his jacket.  She was so useless… So broken.  She couldn’t stand it.  “I’m sorry…Akira…”

He kissed the top of her head.  “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Evening

As soon as Asa stepped inside her apartment, her phone was going off in her pocket.  She pulled it out, knowing it was Akira without even seeing the name on her phone.

“Hey.”  She whispered, walking into her tiny kitchen.

“You made it home okay?’  Akira asked.

“Yeah I just walked in.”

“Is… it an okay time to talk?  You… were in a hurry to get back.  I… had expected you to ask a lot of questions about what happened today.”

“I do have a lot of questions.  I just… don’t know I’m ready to ask.”

“I understand.  I’m sorry, Asa.”

Asa grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and dropped down on the tiny loveseat in the livingroom.  She leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling as she kicked her legs up over the leg rest.  “Don’t be sorry.  Just as you told me a million times, none of this is your fault.”

“But I am sorry that things that are upsetting you keep happening.  I know it’s not easy, but what you saw today… it’s the only way I know I can help.  And I have to do it, cause I can’t just move on.”

Asa fell silent.

“…You’re in so much pain, Asa.  I wish you hadn’t have gone home already.  Is your mom there?”

“No…”

“Maybe it would be better if you came back – “

“Don’t tell me such things…”  A tiny little lip curl quirked up.  “I’d never leave your place and that would probably not be okay with Sojiro.”

“You’re okay there alone?”

Asa’s gaze softened.  “It’s nicer hearing a certain charming young mans voice.”

“Glad you don’t hate it.  I… wasn’t planning on ending the call any time soon.”

Asa smiled, “I’ll put you speaker.  I’m gonna make some dinner.  “


	8. 4/18

** Morning **

Just like every Monday, the morning was rough.  For some reason, teachers liked to give more assignments on these days than any other day.  Asa and Akira took one of their class hours to go to the library and get caught up on all they’d missed the day before.  They were both sitting in the library next to each other, noses to the books.  After a while, Asa found herself unable to concentrate on her assignments at all.  Her gaze kept drifting to the boy next her.  Even while he was focusing, Akira looked more charming than any boy his age should.  His left cheek rested against his knuckles and his large glasses reflected the lights in the room, making them glint every now and again.  She could tell herself that's what kept distracting her, but she knew it was the soft  bla c k  eyes behind those lenses.  After a while, he must have spotted her focusing on him now instead and so he looked up from his book and offered her the sweetest little smile.  He twirled his pencil to one finger and reached his hand over, rubbing her shoulder and then running his  finger tips  down her arm before it fell on her thigh.

He sweetly asked, "How are you feeling, Asa?"

Her gaze weakened under the exuberant kindness she always felt from him and she looked away before closing her eyes.  A deep breath escaped as she honestly told him, "I wish I could say that I was fine.  But... being here...it's..."

Akira moved his hand from her thigh and grabbed her chair, pulling it closer to him before tucking her head against his chest.  He pressed his lips into her curly blue hair and explained, "It's okay to not be okay.  I wouldn't expect you to suddenly be alright, Asa.  No one would.  But I'm going to be right here.  You're not going to be alone around him again, understand?"

Asa lifted her head to meet his gaze and assured him, "I know this is an awful thing to say to someone after a week but... you're the only reason I can stay sane right now.  You walked into my life just when I needed you most."

Akira shook his head, continuing to give her a reassuring smile.  "I'm glad I did.  I want to protect you.  And... I will."  His other hand reached up, brushing the back of his finger against her cheek.  "So we need to have the conversation about that other world tonight."

Asa sighed and sat up, pulling away a bit.  "So you're still planning on going back in there."

Akira nodded.  "Yes."

Her gaze drifted for a moment before her red eyes met his black ones once more.  It was clear to see the worry that was filled to the brim of those beautiful irises but as he’d told her, he didn’t have a choice.  It was his only way to save her and ensure that the bastard never laid a hand on her again without putting her and her mother at risk.  “That place terrifies me.”  Asa told him honestly.  “I wish I could talk you out of it.”

His black eyes simmered.  “I promise I’ll be careful.”

Asa started to open her mouth, to say something else to him when the librarian came by and glared at the two of them.  “Hush.  This is a library.  If you’re only here to talk and not study, take it somewhere else.”

Asa dipped her head respectfully.  “S-sorry.”

They went back to studying but now it was Akira who couldn’t keep his eyes off her.  She was far from being recovered from what Kamoshida had done, but it looked like maybe she starting to go in the right direction.  Because he was distracted though, he happened to see when a certain person walked into the library.  He gently nudged Asa who looked up, surprised to see the school beauty sit down across the table from them.

Casually, Talliya pulled out her school work and put it in front of her and began working on it.  She commented, “Unsurprising… Kamoshida is pissed.”

Asa tensed up and at the same time, when Talliya looked up, she could see bruises that matched her own on her face.  They hadn’t been their previously.  Was it because of her actions?  She started to look down but Akira squeezed her arm gently and told Talliya, “The consequences of that are my fault.  I refused to let her go.”

“You’re your own undoing then.” Talliya told him simply.  “Because she didn’t show up, he’s moving forward with his proposal to take to the Board meeting to have all of you expelled – you two and Sakamoto.  He’s making some pretty bold claims but it’ll be his word against the word of well-known troublemakers.  Don’t have to be a genius to know how that will end.  The board meeting is May 2 nd .  I’m telling you this only because you said you planned to take down Kamoshida.  If you’re going to… you have until then to do it.  If you don’t, it’ll be too late anyway.”

Akira looked at Asa and saw the dejection in her eyes.  Talliya walked away without another word.  But, in listening to her, something in his mind snapped together, like pieces of a puzzle.  “Asa… I might be reading into this too much… but… you didn’t… let him…do this, did you?”

Asa’s eyes slowly widened.  Akira felt the words knot in his throat.  “She said moving forward with expelling me.  Did you let him do this… so I wouldn’t be expelled?”

Her head lowered and she pursed her lips hard as her jaw started quivering.  “Turned out to be a waste, too, huh? Cause he’s just doing it anyway…”

Akira’s eyes were trembling as he watched her  When he saw the tears start to roll down her cheeks from under her bangs, he cupped her cheek and turned her head into him, cradling her softly.   He felt so many emotions overwhelm him in that moment.  He couldn’t believe something so awful had happened to her and there was nothing he could do to help her.  If he could... he’d make it all go away.  But right now... his only option would be to prevent him from ever laying his hand on her again.

** After School **

Akira was standing next to Asa as she was texting on her phone after class let out.  She had just finished sending a message to one of her bandmates and she looked up at him.  “Hey, if you’re not busy... do you want to go grab a bite -  “  Before  she could finish talking, Akira’s phone went off now.

He fished the phone out of his pocket and saw that it was Ryuji texting him.  Asa leaned up on her toes to look at his screen.  

Ryuji: You know there’s a shop in Shibuya that sells model guns.

Ryuji: I’d be glad to take you there if you want.

Akira frowned and glanced at Asa.  He had known what she was about to ask.  To be honest, he didn’t want to leave her on her own right now.  But if these model guns could help them in the castle...

Akira: Can’t you do it alone?

Ryuji: Oh right, you just transferred here, huh?

Ryuji: Let’s go together, dude.  I’ll show you around.

Ryuji: You at least know how to get to Shibuya Station, yeah?

Ryuji: I’ll be in front of the station!

Akira sighed heavily.  Asa smiled at him, “Don’t worry about it okay?  I’ll go meet up with my band for practice.  I was going to skip if you’re free, but I’ll stay with them so I’m nice and safe.”

He nodded his head, gently reaching up and brushing his fingertips along her cheek and whispering, “Text me as often as you can, okay?”  He kissed her nose before reluctantly stepping away from her.  He watched her as long as he could, making sure she was well away from the school before he made his way to the train station.

At the station, Ryuji smirked at Akira.  “There you are, man.”

When he looked away, his onyx eyes a bit glazed, Ryuji frowned and apologized, “Sorry, dude.  I know you probably wanted to stick with Asa... but...if we want to stop  Kamoshida , I think we need to do this.   We need these to beat  Kamoshida .”

Akira looked up as Ryuji led him from the station and through Shibuya and to the shop he had been talking about.  Once they reached the door of a tiny shop off an alley connected to Central Street, he asked, “Now that we’re here, do you know anything about military stuff?  I guess worse comes to worst we can just ask the  shopkeep  what they recommend.  C’mon, let’s go.”

Inside, an older man with a tattoo on his neck and a strange cap with headphones sitting on the top of his head.  He questioned, “You  lookin ’ for recommendations?  Just buy whatever looks interestin’ to you.”

Ryuji cursed, “Some customer service...”

“Fine.”  The manager put his magazine down and looked up at them.  “ Whaddya  want?  An automatic?  A revolver?”

Ryuji frowned.  “Uh...automatic?  What are you talking about?  Cars now?”

The guys’ eyes narrowed.  “Listen, this here’s an enthusiast shop.  My  regulars’ll  be mad if I let a casual like you hang around.”

Ryuji snarled, “I’m not a  freakin ’ casual!  I bought shit from here like, last week!”

He shrugged.  “I don’t remember you.”

Ryuji pouted, “You bastard...”

The manager turned and looked at Akira, “And you?  Lookin ’ for something’?”

“Something that looks real.”  Akira answered.

The manager’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.  “Oh?  You guys plannin’ a nice big bank robbery or something’?”

Immediately getting defensive, Ryuji argued, “Th-that  ain’t  it!  We just like how they look, is all!”

“Anyway... you  shoulda  said before you  two’re  enthusiasts.  I’m always up for  helpin ’ fresh faces.”  He sat up and finally gave them his attention.  “Some precautions first though.  Don’t go ‘round pointing ‘ em  at other people.  Keep ‘ em  in a bag or something’ if you’re outside.   Oh  and don’t let the fuzz catch  wind  of you having ‘ em .  I don’t need them  comin ’ around here.”

Akira assured him, “We’ll be careful, promise.”

“You damn well better be.”  He snapped.  He started motioning towards the guns that were in the display case, “Now if you look close, you’ll be able to tell these’re models.  Real guns feel... different.  Maybe someday I’ll show you the real good stuff though.  If you got the guts for it, of course.”  He led them along to a case at the far end and explained, “But for now, you get the beginning selection here.”

Ryuji grinned at him, “Good work, dude.  We totally  gotta  go for some fancy shit, right?  I want ‘ em  to shine!”  He reached into his pocket and stated, “Here!  Here’s the cash for mine.  Pick me out something good!”

Akira blinked at his words and asked, “Are you not going to pick something out yourself?”

Ryuji shook his head.  “Nah, I  gotta  run.  I trust you though!”  He gave him a thumbs up before bolting out the door.

Akira sighed with exhaustion.  Not only did he drag him away from Asa, but not he was bailing on him to go do something else.  He turned back to the case and started looking over the different model weapons the owner had.  He picked out what he thought would be the best for them with the money he had.  After finishing up, he had just barely stepped out of the shop when he got another text message.

He pulled his phone out and smiled when he saw it was another text from Asa.  It filled him with warmth to know she couldn’t stand being away from him either.

** Evening **

“...so...that’s all I know about it.” Akira finished, glancing at his phone that was sitting on the dusty shelf beside his bed.  “That’s all Morgana has told us at least.  So... that’s why... we have to keep doing this.”

Asa sighed as she was sitting on the couch, slurping up noodles she had picked up on her way home.  “I see.  I mean... I get why you  _ have _  to do it.  Because... at this point the change of heart is the only option.  But... I’m just scared.  Those monsters were dangerous.  And... if you get hurt in there, won’t it hurt you for real?  I mean you’re physically going into that cognitive world, right?”

Akira sighed.  “I think so.  But I promise I’m going to be as careful as I can.”

Asa closed her eyes tightly and told him, “I don’t want you going without me.”

He gasped, “Asa, no.  Absolutely not.  You’ve been through enough!  Ryuji and I have personas that we can summon and help us.  You don’t.  You’d be in so much danger and you could get seriously hurt.  There’s another person that’s been there every now and then, helping us.”

Asa went quiet.  “You think they’ll help?”

Akira frowned deeply.  “I’m... not certain.  She seemed interested in helping us at first but she hasn’t been around much lately.”

Asa continued to stare at her phone sitting on the coffee table in silence.  She needed to get her act together.  The only way she could help him was if she put the pieces of herself back into one and summoned her persona again.

Akira felt the weight of her silence on the other end of the line and he changed the subject, “How are you feeling, Asa?  Are the bruises going away yet?”

Asa shook herself from her stupor and confessed, “I... don’t think so.  It’s a little soon to tell though.  But... I’m not as sore as I was yesterday.”  She swallowed and told him, “I’m serious though... I want to help with this as much as I can, Akira.  I don’t want to just be a useless damsel in distress.  If you’re going tomorrow... I’m going with you!”

Akira closed his eyes tightly.  No matter how much he wanted to argue with her, if she was with him then he’d be able to keep an eye on her and know that  Kamoshida  was  no where  near her.  He’d just have to take extra care not to let any harm come to her.  He gave in.  “Alright, Asa.  If that’s what you want.”

Her gaze warmed.  “Thank you, Akira...”


	9. 4/19

** After School **

Akira looked at his phone as he met up with Asa outside of class.  They had been extra careful to, just like the day before, avoid going to any classes or anywhere near where  Kamoshida  might be.  But they had barely stepped out of their last class when Akira got another text message.

Ryuji:So ?  Are we meeting up to go to the palace?  Let’s just go.

Akira looked at Asa who nodded her head.  He squeezed her hand.  “Stay by my side no matter what, okay?”

She nodded.  “I will.  I promise.”

They went to the rooftop where several desks were clustered together.  Ryuji was sitting in one of the chairs while Akira leaned against the AC unit and Asa was sitting on a desk.  Morgana hopped into her lap and explained, “You all understand that our deadline for getting the treasure is May 2 nd , right?”

Asa asked, “So... If I’m understanding this correctly... you guys have to go to that castle again and steal the treasure that belongs to Kamoshida?”

Ryuji interjected, “Wait.  What even is a treasure?  I  wanna  know that before we do anything.”

“A treasure is the physical form of the Palace ruler’s distorted desires.”  Morgana answered, licking his paw.  “In other words, it’s the core of the palace.  Once we steal it, the Palace will crumble... I think.”

Asa frowned.  “You think?”

“Having said that.”  Morgana continued, “Even I don’t know what  Kamoshida’s  treasure is going to be.”

“Or where it is?” Asa chimed in.  Morgana nodded.

“We can’t know until we go in and find it.”  He clarified.  “But if I had to guess, I’d say he has it locked up somewhere in the depths of the Palace.”

“Eh, I think I get it now.”  Ryuji confirmed.  “We just  gotta  find the Treasure, yeah?”

“Pretty much.”  Morgana confirmed.  “There’s a lot we won’t know until we go in.  But that’s our objective – to find the treasures location somewhere in the palace.  Make sure we go about this with time to spare so we can avoid any unforeseen circumstances.  I expect great things from you guys.”

Akira looked up at Asa.  He asked her, “You’re certain you want to come with us?”

Asa nodded.  “Yes I am.  I’m sorry for the burden I’ll put on you guys.  But I’ll do my best.”

Ryuji frowned and looked up at Akira.  “You really think it’s okay to agree?”

Akira shook his head.  “She’s too stubborn.  I can’t argue with her.”  He looked at Morgana.  “Just like before... you focus on protecting her, okay?”

Morgana mewled.  “Sure will!”

Ryuji pulled his pohne out.  “Alright.  Here we go.”

Next thing they knew, they were back outside of  Kamoshida’s  castle.  For a moment, Asa kept her eyes shut tight, afraid when she opened them that she’d be in her persona suit.  Thankfully, when she looked down at herself, she was still her normal person.  No Ebony anywhere to be seen.

Mona's gaze had lingered on Asa as well for a moment before he looked up at them and stated, “Alright.  Game time from this point forward.  I’ll teach you the basics of infiltrating a Palace as we go.”

Skull punched his palm and asked, “You?  Where’s that slutty dressed Ebony chick been?  Haven’t seen her for days.  She seemed a lot more helpful.”

Mona glared harder.  “You’re lucky to have me here!”  He started off but they paused when Joker seemed to be staring at something.  Completely zoned out.

Asa gently tugged on the sleeve of his black jacket.  “Akira...?”

Skull patted Asa’s head.  “Remember to use code names here.”

“Oh.  Right.  Joker, right?”  She turned back to him.  “Are you okay?”

Joker blinked and glanced down at her.  “Wait here a moment.”

He walked forward but Asa had no idea what he was walking towards.  However, when he disappeared a moment later, she was terrified.  Her heart jumped into her throat.  “Where did he go!?”

“I... don’t know...” Skull confessed.

Only a few moments later  Joker  came back, his hands in his pockets casually as though nothing had happened.  Mona asked, “Where did you go?”

“It’s... hard to explain...” Joker told them.  He saw the look of worry on Asa’s face and he brushed his red gloved hand across her plush cheek as he told her, “Don’t worry.  It wasn’t dangerous.”

She clasped his hand with hers and nuzzled into it.  “Promise?”

“ Of course  I do.”  He assured and then looked at Skull.  “Let’s get going now.”

“Yeah.”  Skull agreed.  “So where do we start?”

Mona suggested, “Let’s go back to that safe room first.  Where the distortion was weak from last time.  It’s in the first floor of the west building.  That’s pretty close to our usual entrance.  It should be a pretty decent starting point.”

Following the suggestion, they made their way to the room where the scenery kept shifting back and forth between a classroom and just a normal looking castle room.

Skull nudged Asa and asked, “What do you think, pretty crazy huh?”

Asa, unimpressed, commented, “Yeah I guess.”  She looked over at Mona and questioned, “Do you have any idea where the treasure is?”

Mona shook his head.  “I’ve been snooping for a while but nothing has stood out so far...”

Joker suggested, “Then let’s just start moving and way our way through the castle.  We’re bound to find something.”  

Joker led the way out the door but as soon as the large white doors opened, a shadow in the form of a soldier was crossing their path.  Without wasting a moment, he swooped in and cut the neck of the shadow, revealing  it’s  monster form for a brief moment before it disappeared completely into dust.

Mona mewled, “Great job Joker.  With moves like that, this palace will be easy!”

Joker flicked his head.  “Let’s keep going.”  

This time, Skull pushed open a door quietly, only to find that there were three shadows prowling around in this area.  One came around the corner and was coming close to them but Joker grabbed Asa and darted behind one of the brick pillars.  Skull and Mona joined.  Joker kept Asa tucked away against him while the shadow passed.

Mona pinned his ears back and growled up at him, “I thought I was watching over Asa to keep you free to fight.”

Joker blinked behind his mask and then looked down at Asa who was staring up at him.  His gaze softened.  “Right.  Habit.  Sorry.”  He peeked around, reluctantly letting her go.

Skull stepped around him and stated, “I’ll get these guys.”  Just as easily as Joker, he shot out behind the first shadow and gave him a hard whack, sending it to the ground and it obliterated into dust.  He made quick work of the next two as well.

Once the room was empty, Asa stood up and looked around.  As they made their way across the room, she saw a box that she had noticed before.  Walking over to it, she opened it up, not surprised to find that there were some supplies in there.  “Here.  We might need these.”

Skull looked curiously at the items.  “ Oh  hey yeah.  It looks like medicine.”

Asa held up a couple of the other items and stated, “These might be worth selling later.  We’ll need the extra money.”

Mona purred with delight.  “I like the way your brain works, Asa.”

After traveling further in, they came to what looked like a lunch room with a long table full of empty dishes.  Asa wasted no time, starting to look through barrels for anything that could help us.  Skull put his hands on his hips.  “Gotta sift through everything huh?”

“You don’t want to risk missing anything important.”  She told him.

Skull paused.  “You talk like you’ve done this before.”

Asa had started to head for the door when she noticed a barrel up on a shelf.  In her form, she couldn’t get to it, but with her persona, she could have.  She glanced at Joker and pointed up at it.

He tightened up his glove.  “Got it.”  He jumped up and opened the barrel up and he commented, “There’s a couple stones in here.”

At the same moment a shadow  lept  out of the barrel and right towards Asa.  She gasped when she was scooped up by the unicorn like creature, holding her up by her shirt on  it’s  massive horn.  She tried to kick back at it but she couldn’t.  “Let go!”

Joker jumped down and shouted, “Asa!”

Skull lunged at the horse but it kicked him away with  it’s  back legs and when Joker charged, it whipped it’s head to the side, throwing Asa at him.  He instinctively caught her, wrapping his arms around her, but they both flew into the wall and slid down.

Mona didn’t miss a beat though and summoned his persona who cut through the horse like it was butter.  He rushed over to Joker and Asa.  “Are you two okay?”

Asa rubbed her neck where her shirt had nearly strangled her.  She looked back at Joker.  “Are you...?”

He nodded his head after giving a small grunt.  “I’m fine.  Glad you’re okay.”

Skull got to his feet, rubbing his chest where he’d been kicked.  “I’m good, too, thanks for asking.”

Joker ordered, “We need to be more careful.”

Skull whacked Asa’s head.  “No more digging through everything.”

Asa seethed up at him, “But we might find something useful!”

Skull fanned his hands.  “Okay if you say so.”

They continued through the castle, finally coming to a large room with statues on the walls and bars blocking them from entering.  As they walked up to it, Joker stated, “Look.”

Mona jumped up and stated, “That looks like a map.  Could be just what we need to figure our way around this place.”

Skull punched the bars and let out a shriek of pain, pulling his fist back.  “I don’t think we can just bust down these bars.  Dammit.”

Mona added, “If it’s protected by bars this powerful, it has to be important.  But  also  that there should be a way in and out of there.”  He looked up at the boy with the white mask.  “Joker, do you think you can solve the mystery of this room?  I’m sure your observation skills will help you get through!”

Asa watched as Joker nodded his head and stepped forward, looking around the room.  After a moment of concentrating hard, his eyes turned red beneath his mask.  Asa’s own eyes widened a bit and she felt a warm tickle run down the back of her neck and along her spine.  It felt like her heart jumped ten times in the span of a moment and she could have almost choked on her own breath.  Those crimson eyes looked so beautiful and alluring on him.

His eyes widened a bit and he stated, “I can see footsteps.  Here.”  He walked up to one of the statues and pulled the chain, before walking around the pillars and pulling the chain on another one.  As soon as he did, all the bars raised so they could pass through.

“Whoa!”  Skull shouted.

Mona agreed, “As expected from you, Joker!”

Asa led the way to the table and picked up the old paper.  Skull grumbled, “What is this?  He had it all locked up and shit but it’s just some old map?”

Asa glared at him, “It’s a map of the castle.  This is valuable.  Now we can figure out where we need to go.”

Mona agreed, jumping up on Asa’s shoulder.  “Having this will give us a better grasp of the topography of the Palace.  It’s a true necessity for a phantom thief.  This should make securing a route much easier.”

Asa pouted, “Too bad it doesn’t say where the treasure is...actually, it looks like it’s not complete.... maybe there’s more?”  Asa questioned.

Skull huffed.  “ Mkday , let’s start  checkin ’ what we can.  We’ll  prolly  find another map along the way somewhere.”

Asa nodded and pointed her finger to where they were at on the map.  “We’re here.  It doesn’t look like we’ve gone here yet.  Let’s head this way.”

They followed Asa’s directions and made their way down several more halls.  For the most part they were encountering shadows one at a time, which made them easy to deal with.

They finally came to a large room where they had actually been before.  But this time they were on the second level, a railing separating them from the floor below.  They could see soldiers walking around, on the lookout for them.  Joker glanced at Asa and put a finger to his lips,  signalling  for her stay quiet.

They came to another set of bars in front of the door that they needed.  Skull whispered angrily, “The chain to open these bars is on the other side.  We can’t reach it from here.”

Mona suggested, “We need to find another way to get around.”

Skull looked over at a shelf, seeing that there was an awning that ran the length of the wall that could be reached from the top of a bookshelf.  He pointed, “How about that?”

“Looks promising.”  Mona agreed.

Skull led the way, jumping up with ease.  Mona followed behind  him.   Joker put his foot up on the shelf and held his hand out to Asa.  “Come on.  I’ll help you up.”

Asa nodded hesitantly.  “Right.”  She used Joker’s hand for leverage and gripped the top of the shelf, heaving herself up.  He aided by pushing her up by the legs, blushing hotly when his hand slipped and  accidently  pushed her up by the ass instead.  “S-sorry.”

Asa’s face was red hot and she shook her head.  “It’s okay...”  She looked up, seeing that  Skull  was already up on the awning.  He held his hand down to her.  She took it and he and Joker got her up onto the ledge with ease.

But now that they were up here, Joker wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her right up against him.  He warned, “This is narrow... watch your every step, Asa.  Keep a hold of my hand and do not let go under any circumstance.”

She nodded her head – she didn’t need to be told that.  She wasn’t going to stray an inch from him.

Unfortunately  the ledge only went halfway down the wall so they had to cut across the rafters and jump down onto the chandeliers that lit the central hall.  As soon as they jumped onto them though, several shadows formed around them.

Joker wrapped his arm around Asa and pulled her protectively into his chest, holding his dagger out with his other hand.  But he didn’t have anything to be worried about.  As soon as he pulled her in, Mona and Skull took quick work of the shadows.

Asa’s hands were resting on Joker’s chest and she looked up at him before looking down.  If she could get herself straightened out... she could be helping him instead of being a burden.  He glanced at her and must have misinterpreted her expression because he kissed her hair and worried, “Don’t worry, you’re safe Asa.”

She told him seriously, “I’m  _ useless _ .”

His eyes widened a bit.  “Asa...”

Skull suddenly shouted, “Hey dude!  Look the distortion is all messed up here!  There’s a room we can chill in.”

Asa got to her feet slowly, unsteady on the rocking chandelier.  Akira held her steady and helped her across and back to the ledge where Skull and Mona were.

Once they were in the saferoom, Joker stated, “I think we’ve made plenty of progress.  It’s getting late.  We should return for now and continue tomorrow.”

Skull grumbled but then sighed and rubbed his head.  “Okay.”

Asa gripped  Joker’s  jacket sleeve between her fingers and asked, “You’re not... quitting here because of me are you?”

His expression was soft and he shook his head.  “No.  Not because of you, Asa.”


	10. 4/20

** Morning **

“I thought I’d get a girlfriend once I was in high school, but I’m not having any luck at all...  Is there something wrong with me?”

“Maybe.  Maybe you need to do some self-improvement.  Try reading some books.  Broaden your horizons so you’ll have more things to talk about.  You’ll be more desirable if you’re more intelligent.  It’ll take hard work, though – won’t happen overnight.”

“Yeah but books make me sleepy...”  He sighed.  “Guess I can give it a go, though, if it’ll help make me more popular with the ladies!  Uh... is the library where you go to borrow books?”

Morgana looked up from where he was laying in Akira’s bag and stated, “Reading books is an important way to expand your mind.”

Akira smirked a bit.  “Why do I need to worry about that?”  He looked up, his smirk widening.  “I don’t need to impress any ladies... I already have Asa.”

Morgana stated, “Diamonds don’t start out beautiful, you need to polish them first.  Similarly, you need to polish your intellect in order to really tap into your true talent.  It’s not just about impressing girls.  You can apparently read for free at the school library so you should try and take advantage of that.  I think there’s also a bookstore over on Central Street.”

Akira looked over when he saw his favorite bob of hair running up through the crowd at the  train station .  Asa caught up to him in moments and as soon as she was in front of him, she leaned up on her toes and gave him a swift, loving peck on the lips.  His gaze immediately warmed and he brushed his knuckles along her soft cheek.  “Good morning Asa.  Did you sleep well?”

She nodded her head.  “I missed you through the night, though.”

His fingers lingered against her jaw.  “Why don’t I talk to  Shojiro  and see if you can come to  LaBlanc  again.”

Her red eyes sparkled and she assured him, “I don’t want to put a stress on your relationship with him.  I’ll be good and wait for the mornings to see your handsome face again.”

He chuckled.  “I don’t know about handsome... but I do know I miss your beautiful face as well.”

Morgana poked his head out and growled, “Can you two be anymore disgusting?  I swear.”

Asa giggled, leaning into his chest.  “Is that a challenge, Morgana?”

With a loud groan, he  burried  himself back into the bag.

Akira stated, “You look much better today, Asa...your eyes look like they’re sparkling again...”

Asa’s gaze drifted a bit before she whispered, “If I just focus on you...I forget about him.”

He brushed her hair back.  “Let’s keep it that way.”

** After School **

Akira had just stood up from his desk when he got a text message.  He opened his phone, seeing it was once again Ryuji.

Ryuji: Hey where are you right now?

Akira: I’m still in the classroom.

Ryuji:I’m  still at school too.  I’m by the staircase outside your classroom.

Ryuji: Think we should head into the Palace today?

Akira:I  haven’t decided.

Ryuji: Hey I  thougth  of  somethin ’ the other day when we were running around the Palace.  Maybe it’s  cause  I haven’t been moving around as much lately, but I feel like I’m getting weak.  We’re  prolly gonna  run into some pretty tough Shadows sometime.  We should try to get stronger, too.  It’s sunny outside, perfect for training!   Wanna  get your blood pumping?

Morgana looked at the phone and commented, “Sounds like Ryuji has a lot of his mind, too.  It’s true that training your body will let you be able to move when it counts.  He went to the trouble of inviting you so why not listen to what he has to say?”

“What who has to say?”  Asa asked, leaning on Akira’s back on his shoulder that wasn’t holding the Morgana bag.

Akira stated, “Ryuji wants to go work out so we’re better prepared in the metaverse.  If you’re going to keep joining, maybe you should come, too.”

Asa blinked.  “Are you sure that’s okay?”

Akira smiled.  “Ryuji understands the situation.  He won’t mind.”  He replied to Ryuji.

Ryuji:Let’s  do some quick warm-ups behind the gym then.

Ryuji: Oh yeah, change into your gym clothes first.

Asa smiled when she stepped out of the locker room in her red shorts and white t-shirt.  She was never a fan of how small the shorts were for girls, but in present company she wasn’t too worried.  That was until Akira actually stepped out and glanced over at her.  His cheeks turned the softest shade of pink and she felt flustered, pulling at her collar and looking away shyly.

Before she could say anything though, Ryuji came up behind them and wrapped his arms around their necks.  “Alright enough of that.  No  oogly -eyed weird love bird acting around here.  Just workout, got it?”

Asa giggled.  “We’re getting scolded, Akira.”

Akira chuckled.  “I noticed.  You better break a real sweat out there, then.”

Ryuji laughed as well and started  stretching.   “This place really brings back memories.”  They were out in the field that was actually at the center of the student buildings.  The only break in the green field was the concrete path that connected the two towers.  He looked down a moment and then explained, “This is my secret training spot...  er ... it was.  Back when I was on the track team.”

Asa frowned.  She’d heard all the stories.  Everyone had.  But somehow the story that went around as rumors didn’t feel like the real truth.  And after witnessing the interaction between  Kamoshida  and Ryuji in the castle, she knew it wasn’t true.  Her gaze drifted past him for a moment and to the door that lead into the north tower.  A familiar face was standing there, watching them.

Talliya  kept staring, acting like she didn’t see that she was noticed.

Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck.  “I’ve been thinking about tryin’ to run again.”

Akira blinked in surprise.  “If you want to, then you should.  What’s holding you back?”

Ryuji carried on, “I just recently started thinking about it.   Fightin ’ in that other world was a total shock.  I couldn’t move like I used to.  It just felt... lame.   So  I been  thinkin ’,  mayve  I need to build up my muscles again!   Anything’s better than this flimsy body, right?  Plus, maybe then I’ll be more able to help out a little more.”

Akira chuckled.  “You seem pretty excited.”

Asa raised her fist.  “Me too!  I’ll help too!”

Ryuji laughed at her.  “ _ You _  shouldn’t even be joining us.  You don’t have a persona.  It’s dangerous.”

Asa puffed her cheek.  “What’s dangerous is letting you guys run around unsupervised.  You need Morgana and I around to keep you two on track.”

Morgana let out a mewl of agreement.

Akira frowned at her.  “Asa, all we’re saying is that it’s much easier for you to get hurt in the other world than it is for us.  Understand our point of view, okay?”

“I understand you’re overprotective and worried.”  Asa stated.  “But... I get it.  I do.  But I also need you to understand that...I can’t sit around and wait for you to come back... not knowing if you’re hurt or not...”

Akira’s eyes widened before softening.  He mussed her hair.  “I know, Asa...”

Ryuji interjected, “But that’s why we’re all here!  We’re all  gonna  get stronger!   So  let’s start working out together!  I’m going to do some knee lift sprints!  You guys do some normal ones!”

A couple hours later and Asa thought her legs would fall off.  All three of them collapsed in the grass, panting and breathing heavy, just trying to get oxygen back to their lungs.  Ryuji laughed and grumbled in one, “Damn my  legs’re  all tight...!”

Asa was laughing breathlessly.  “ I”m  so out of shape, guys...!  Ugh.”  She put her hand on her chest.  It felt like it was hard for her to breathe.  Her hand started to go for her bag, but she realized that she could breathe, it was just her heart pounding so hard in her ears.

She glanced over at Akira, seeing that there was sweat dripping down his face and over his eyebrows and behind his glasses.  But still his big round black eyes were watching her with worry, as though trying to  will  her into telling him that something was wrong.  Her face flushed.  He was always looking  at  her  like that – like he was only ever thinking of her.  But he looked so attractive right then, with that expression and the sweat on his face.  She was captivated by the sight of him that she almost missed when Ryuji started talking again.

“Before  Kamoshida  came along... the track team was the biggest thing this school had  goin ’ for it.  But it all changed after he got our coach fired and took over as the sub.  The... bastard... right from the start he was  tryin ’ to get rid of us!  He’d give us crazy workouts, then when we couldn’t do ‘ em , he’d add even more on top of that.  Day after day was nothing but that bullshit...  He went after me especially...”  Ryuji looked down.  “He knew... I was the kind of guy who’d fight back.  If my time dropped even a little, he’d cuss me out.  Then on top of  that,  he brought up my parents...”

“Your parents?”  Akira questioned.

His gaze grew distant.  “Truth is... my mom’s the only one I got.  All my dad did when he was still around was drink.  Sometimes he’d even beat me or my mom.  I  dunno  how that bastard  Kamoshida  found out, but he told the whole goddamn team.”

Asa’s eyes widened.  “He can’t do that!”

Ryuji growled, “He did.  And... as you can guess... I lost it and hit him.  It was like he wanted me to do it  though .  He called it an  _ act of violence _  and shut the team down...Thanks to that, the other guys on the team treat me like some kind of traitor...And they  ain’t  wrong.”  Ryuji confessed.  “ ’Cause  of me, they all  lsot  their shot at the championship.”

He fell silent.

Asa looked down at her feet.  She didn’t know what to say, but she hadn’t heard this side of the story before.

Akira asked, “Do you want to go back?”

Ryuji  quesitoned , “To the track team?  Nah...  How could I, after that?”

When Akira just continued to look at him, he grumbled, “C’mon don’t ask me tough questions like that!  I’m not very smart,  ya  know!”  He put his hands on his hips and grinned, “Anyway, it doesn’t matter now!  That’s all in the past!  I’m only  thinkin ’ about the future now!  That’s what we’re  gonna  do!  Build the future!  We  gotta  think positive thoughts!”  He held his hand up to Akira for a high-five.

Akira chuckled softly and held his hand up as well.

As soon as they clapped, Asa smiled at them, but her gaze went back to the door.   Talliya  had been sitting on the stairwell the entire time they were working out.

Ryuji started trotting in place. “C’mon!  Now that we’re all warmed up, how ‘bout another run?  By the way, you’re actually pretty good at  runnin ’.  Not as good as me though.”

Akira made a face.  “Another run?”

Asa reached her hand up and touched Akira’s chest.  “Why don’t you guys run without me?  I’m calling it quits.”

Akira looked worried for a second before she assured, “I’m waiting here for you, don’t worry.”  He nodded before he started running the other direction with Ryuji.

Asa slowly walked around and to the stairs where  Talliya  was sitting.  She looked up at the  black haired  girl and her eyes instantly narrowed.  She closed the book that she was reading and sighed heavily.  “The worst thing... is that his story... was normal around here.”

Asa’s eyes widened.   Talliya  carried on, “ Kamoshida  has this desire to... make himself the most superior in anyone’s eyes.  He  needs  to impose his will upon others.  You found that out the hard way.  Just as I did.  Right after... the first time...I... started asking around.  Just like you guys were.  But no one listened.  Everyone stayed silent – out of fear.  That’s when I realized that he was holding his power over the heads of everyone.  So... I made a deal with him.  If I... answered his every beck and call... would he leave all the other students alone.  For a time... it worked.  I was his soul outlet and the stories of people having their dreams crushed by  Kamoshida  fell to silence...I thought.”

Asa asked, “Are you sure it wasn’t just that their fear became worse?”

Talliya  gripped her book tightly.  “Why would I want to consider that?  Then everything I was doing was wasted.  I - “

“That’s right.”  Asa told her.  “It was a waste.  Giving yourself up was a waste.  Sacrificing yourself for a bastard like that  _ was a waste _ .”

Talliya’s  eyes widened and she got to her feet.  “You bitch!  How dare you!?”  There were tears in her eyes.  “Do you have any idea how painful this was for me!?  How much suffering I endured!?  For all of you!?”

“You should have fought!”  Asa argued.  “If you’d have fought instead, then maybe there’d be a better outcome!  Instead you gave up!”

Her eyes widened, the tears stopping on her cheeks.  “What?”

“You surrendered yourself to  Kamoshida .  You let him win.  He took something sacred from you and instead of fighting against him or making him regret it, you did everything he wanted.  You let him control you.  I’m telling you it was a waste because surrendering yourself was never the answer!  You can’t let him -  “ Her  eyes widened, thinking about how she’d been behaving the last several days.  “You can’t let him rule your actions.  You have to decide for yourself...Don’t give him more satisfaction... resist him... fight with us... _ against _  him.”

Talliya’s  eyes trembled for several moments before she stood to her feet and harshly told her, “Prove yourself.  You talk big but I haven’t seen any dependable action out of you yet.  Show me that you’re worth my time to support.”

Asa nodded her head.  “I will.”

Talliya  looked away, her blue eyes skimming over Ryuji when he ran by with Akira.

Asa followed his gaze before she smiled knowingly.  “You should go talk to him sometime.”

“No.”   Talliya  stated simply.  “I said something awful to him the other day.  I’d rather not.”

Asa shrugged.  “You never know what he thinks without talking to him, you know.”  But  Talliya  just turned and stormed back into the school.  She turned away and rejoined the boys once they were done running.  After they changed back into their normal clothes, Ryuji waved, “You guys be careful getting home.  Don’t collapse!”

Akira, despite still panting softly from the workout, asked her, “Want to come to LaBlanc and study for a bit before heading home?”

Asa smiled and nodded.

** Evening **

To call it studying was probably an  overexaggeration  – at least for Asa.  Akira had his notebook out, pencils and erasers on the table and his textbook open and reading.  Asa had gotten as far as opening her textbook, but instead of working, she had cuddled up to his side, nestling her head against his shoulder and holding her arm to his as he focused.  She did her best not to distract him and she was happy as long as she could hold onto him.  Morgana was sitting in a chair that had been pulled up to the edge so he could watch Akira work.  He was probably the more distracting one, boasting about how well Akira was doing with his work.

Asa smiled as she ran her fingers up and down his arm and  Sojiro  walked over and set another cup of tea down in front of her.  “Asa, you don’t look like you’re studying very hard.  Never thought I’d say this to someone but maybe you should take some lessons from the criminal here.”

Asa giggled.  “I know.  But his presence distracts me.”

Akira chuckled to himself.  “Somehow, Asa, you’re going to end up getting  _ me _  in trouble in this conversation.”

Asa laughed and watched as  Sojiro  shook his head and walked away.  When he did, Akira turned his hand over so when Asa ran her fingers down his arm again, her fingers slid into his palm until their hands were laced together.   He pulled his arm up until his lips touched the back of her hand and he looked over at her.  “Asa, do you want to - “

“I’m okay now.”  Asa stated suddenly, looking up and into his surprised black eyes.  She confessed, “It’s taken me several days to really get my  bearings  straight after what  Kamoshida  did...but...I’m fine now.”

Akira paused and his thumb grazed over her knuckles.  “I saw you talking to  Talliya .  Is that why?”

She nodded.  “In talking to her... I realized...that I’ve just been dwelling on it.  It’s not a fear of contact or anything like that which is plaguing me.  It’s just the fear of him.  But... I can’t let myself be afraid of him anymore.  Because I have you to support me... and if I keep being scared, then I’m just giving him what he wants.  Instead... we need to give him what he deserves.”

Morgana shook himself in the chair and scratched at his ear as he stated, “You also have me, Lady Asa.  I’ll support you, too!”

Asa reached over and petted the top of his head.  “I know you will.  Thank you.”

Akira nodded his head.  “I’m so glad to know you’re back in full spirit.  Even though you’re fully recovered though... will you promise to still stick close to me and avoid  Kamoshida ?  Avoid  Kamoshida  for the obvious reason... but... stay close to me because...that’s where I prefer you...”

Asa laughed softly, resting her head back on his shoulder.  “Your side... is where I want to be, Akira...Nowhere else.”

He turned his head and rested his forehead on hers, their noses brushing.  She tipped her head up just enough that she could catch his lips with her own and kiss him slowly.  A hum of satisfaction left her as she felt his lips, sincere but careful upon her own.  It always made her skin tingle with happiness.  She whispered for his ears only, “I love you, Akira...”

He tipped his head and kissed her deeply, answering her words.

At the door, well after closing, he held Asa close, kissing her over and over.  He didn’t want her to go back home and he could tell that she was reluctant to leave his side too.  He wanted to suggest it again, to ask her to stay here.  To stay with him tonight.  But his room was disgusting and his bed was tiny - if it could even be called a bed.  He wanted her to be comfortable.  But each time he started to stop kissing her and let go of her soft cheeks, she leaned right back in, eager to continue the kiss.

He finally put his finger against her lips, panting softly in the chill night air.  “Asa...sweetie...either we stop now... or you’re staying here tonight.”

Asa’s eyes were shimmering with so many emotions.  Her hand clasped his before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.  “If your situation wasn’t so risky... and we could afford slip ups...I wouldn’t hesitate.  But... I refuse to do anything that might negatively impact you... until your probation is up.  Then... I’ll steal you away.”  She reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone and earbuds.

Keeping their foreheads together, he took her earbuds and gently lifted them up, brushing her hair back setting them on her ears.  She did the same when he pulled his out, but once she was done placing his headphones on him, she cupped his cheeks and kissed him again.

He chuckled, “You slipped that one in.”

Asa giggled.  “I can’t resist you.”  She looked at her phone and hit the  speedial  button for his number.  A moment later, she could hear their echoed voices in the call.  “Okay.  I’m heading home.”

He gently scolded.  “ No  detours.  Straight home.”

She nodded.

They talked the entire time she went home, as they both got ready for bed, and he fell asleep to the sound of her sweet little breaths in his ears, his phone  laying  beside his head and Morgana curled up on his chest.


	11. 4/21

** Morning **

Asa yawned as she rolled over and curled more into her pillow.  She mashed her face into the softness and was about to make herself more comfortable again when she heard a soft voice in her ears.

“Good morning.”

Her eyes shot open and for a brief moment, she saw Akira laying right next to her, his fingers gently combing her hair.  When she lifted her head though, she winced when she felt her earbud tug on her ear and she blinked, looking down at her phone.  Her gaze softened when she saw that she had been on a call with Akira all night.  Her crimson eyes sparkled and she quietly purred, “Good morning, handsome.”

He chuckled in her ears.  “What a wonderful way to start a morning.  Being called handsome by such an angel.”

Asa’s face turned bright red and she huffed.  “Are you trying to butter me up?”

“You started it.”

She smiled as she started picking out her clothes for the day.  “Just  cause  I started it doesn’t mean you can do it back.”  Once she had everything picked out, she told him, “I’m  gonna  hang up and hop in the shower.  Are you going to come pick me up again?  Or am I meeting you at the train station?”

“I’ll come get you.  I’ll head out in a bit.”

Asa purred.  “Thanks, you’re the best.”

In the shower, Asa pushed her hair back and tipped her head, letting the hot water run down over her body.  A long sigh left her and she whispered quietly, “Are you going to be ready today...Ebony?”  

The hot water ran down over the bite marks and bruises that had almost completely healed.

Less than thirty minutes later, Asa opened the door to her little apartment and smiled as Akira handed her a thermos of coffee.  With a big smile, he told her, “ Sojiro  insisted.”

She giggled and accepted it as she stepped out to walk to school with him.  “Thanks.  You know.  I don’t really like coffee, but his is actually pretty good.”

“ Oh  so his is the only coffee you like?”  Akira asked curiously, eager to learn more about the girl he knew so little about.

Asa nodded.  “That’s right.”  She walked backwards, taking his hand and teased, “Of course had you brought me coffee from somewhere else... I’d probably still drink it... just  cause  you brought it to me.”

His gaze softened behind his thick black glasses.  “Don’t do that, Asa.  Not ever.  If you don’t like something... tell me.”

Asa’s gaze softened as well and she tipped her head.  “I don’t like when you’re away from me.”

He pulled her in and wrapped his arms around her.  “I don’t either...”  He tipped her chin up and kissed her slowly.

** After School **

Ryuji’s hands were in his pockets as he asked, “So...Palace?”

Akira nodded his head.  “Yeah.  Let’s do it.”

Ryuji glanced around and then asked, “Where’s Asa?  Isn’t she normally anal about not leavin' your side?”

Akira chuckled.  “ Actually  that would be me.  But.  She has practice with her band tonight.  She left early from  school  to go.   So  it’s just us.”

Ryuji sighed.  “Good.  One less thing to worry about.”

He nodded in agreement and pulled his phone out, clicking into the nav.  This time when they entered the world, they entered from the safe room where they left off.  Skull punched his palm and grinned.  “Alright.  Let’s find that treasure!”

Joker started to head for the door when he paused and glanced up.  They weren’t alone in the saferoom.  Sitting on top of one of the bookshelves, with  h er legs crossed, chin in hand, Ebony was watching them with a big grin on her lips.  “You’re back.”  Joker stated.

Skull shouted and pointed, “There you  freakin ’ are!  We’ve been tackling this castle without your damn help!  Where the  hell’ve  you been!?”

Ebony fanned her hand.  “ Oh  come now.  I’m just like you boys.  I live in the real world and have real obligations.”  She jumped down, almost floating in front of  Joker  as she slid her hands up his torso and purred, “Are you boys trying to say you missed me...?  Cause I certainly missed you...”

Skull stomped his foot.  “Are we seriously right back to that, again?!”

Joker caught Ebony’s wrists and told her, “Sorry, but... I can’t let you touch me.”

Ebony puffed her cheeks.  “Aw... you’ve gotten even more serious about the girlfriend?  I’m so jealous.  Fine then.”  She flicked her head.  “Let’s get this show on the road.”

As Skull walked by, he grumbled to Joker.  “Man... what makes you such a babe magnet?”

Joker shrugged.

Outside the saferoom, they crossed through a door that led down a hall.  There were some soldiers there but not enough to warrant fear.  Ebony looked back at them as they passed through the doorway and asked, “So if you guys have been perusing this castle, then you know where the treasure is?”

Joker and Skull exchanged a look.

Ebony sighed.  “A map?”

Skull nodded and pulled a map out of his pocket and handed it off to her.  “We got it yesterday actually.”  Once she opened up the map he pointed out, “This is how far we’ve made it... this is where we’ve yet to go...”

Ebony’s face scrunched up.  “We have a  ways  then...”

Mona scolded them. “Keep your voices down...!  You’ll attract the  Shadows..! ”

Ebony couldn’t help but laugh at this when she looked over at Mona.  “Have you forgotten I’m back?  These Shadows mean nothing to me.”  To prove her point, she tossed the map back to Skull and jumped up onto the railing,  steathily  running along it and jumping down on the shadow, yanking it’s mask off in the process.  She spun and yanked it to the ground where it disappeared into dust in the same movement.  She jumped back up and pushed her wild black hair back from her butterfly mask.  “See?”

Skull crossed his arms.  “ Again  I ask,  _ where _  have you been?”

Ebony smirked.  “Just be happy I’m here now.”  She tipped her head to Joker.  “Lead the way, handsome.”

They made their way through several halls.  Now with Ebony aiding them, tackling the Shadows was almost...easy.  The biggest challenge came when they approached a door that was blocked by golden bars.  When Skull tried yanking on the chain, nothing happened.  He frowned.  “What the hell?”

Joker pointed to the indention below the chain.  “It’s a keyhole.”

Ebony bent down in front of it and swirled her finger around it.  “Not like one I’ve ever seen.  We’ll have to find where it’s at.  And if it’s anything like the rest of this damned castle... it won’t be easy.”

Skull grumbled at her, “Do you have to move like that while dressed like that?”

Ebony grinned back at him.  “Oh?  Are you eyeballing me?  Naughty boy.”

Skull shouted, “Like hell I am!  But you look ridiculous moving around like that!  We’re fighting to get the treasure from his castle, not put on some ridiculous show!”

Ebony laughed.  “Maybe you are.  But I’m definitely putting on a show for the handsome Joker, here.”

Joker sighed in defeat.

Skull shouted, “What part of he’s taken don’t you get!?”

Ebony huffed.  “Just  cause  he has to be  good,  doesn’t mean I do.”

Skull rubbed his hand over his face and groaned.  “Fine...”  He patted Joker’s shoulder.  “Just ignore  her,  man.  Sorry.”

Ebony giggled as the two guys headed on down the hall.  Mona jumped down beside her and looked up and asked, “Why won’t you tell them who you are?”

Ebony smiled down at him.  She put her hands to her cheeks and shook her head.  “Can’t you tell?  I’m so different from my cute little normal self...!  I don’t want him to know that this wild, slutty vixen self is also me.”

Mona frowned.  “But... it’s a part of you, right?”

Ebony sighed.  “Maybe... somewhere deep inside...”

Several shadows later they came to a small library type room.  Ebony crossed her arms.  “Didn’t think a guy like  Kamoshida  would have a library of any sort...”  Her gaze drifted over to the guys when she saw them beginning to pull out books and sift through them.  She couldn’t stop herself from admiring Joker’s profile.  With the mask and the outfit, he looked very different from Akira.  She felt her skin crawl, remembering the affectionate way he always looked at her, no matter what they were doing.  Affection or worry, it never mattered.  It was plenty apparent how loyal he was to her, because in this form, despite throwing herself at him, those eyes never once looked at her in the same way, except for the brief moment when he mistook her for her other self.  It made her heart happy knowing just how serious he was about her.  She trotted over to him as he skimmed a book and she rested her chin on his shoulder, “Not a book about what you want?  I bet I could find you something more interesting.”

Joker glanced back at her and scolded, “Ebony, I mean it.  I - “

Ebony groaned.  “I know, I know.  The girlfriend...”  She huffed, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling into  him.   “But can’t you just be good while I have fun?”

Joker complained, not responding to her advances at all.  “I don’t think she’d appreciate if I let another woman do whatever they want.”

Ebony sighed and after a moment, she couldn’t resist asking, “You really like this girl a lot, huh?”

Joker blinked for a moment and then closed the book and put it back.  At first, Ebony thought she was going to be ignored but then he finally stated, “I had no idea... the feelings that I have were possible.  The first moment I looked at her...I felt like nothing else in this world mattered to me.  And every moment longer I spend with her...I fall deeper and deeper in love...”

Ebony pursed her lips.  “But... if you just met her... how do you know you won’t learn something about her that will nullify your feelings?  Like maybe... you learn she’s not who she says she is.”

Joker shook his head.  “That’s not possible.  Because my feelings for her... aren’t based on anything in particular about her.  When I look at her, I can’t pull my eyes away.  When I’m near her, I can’t let go.  She could turn into the devil itself and burn the world...and I would still love her.”

Ebony reeled back at his words and she closed her eyes behind her mask.  He had so easily put words to the feelings she had been trying so hard to describe to herself.  Joker gave her an odd look when she seemed to actually back off at this.  Had it worked?  Was that all it took to make her understand where he stood with his feelings for Asa?

They carried on through several more library-like rooms and inside of each one, Joker had found a book that just seemed off.  Ebony commented, “Personas have unique abilities.  There’s a possibility that your persona may have a type of... sixth sense?  If something stands out to you... let’s follow that.”

Joker nodded  and in each room , he collected up the books that called out to him.

Once they’d gone through all of the room except the locked one, Ebony bit her thumbnail.  “I have... a thought...”  She led them back to the first library room and looked around.  She made her way to the wall where she had been searching before and motioned to the empty slot.  She stated, “Look at the books around this empty space - ‘Tracing  Kamoshida’s  footsteps’, ‘ Kamoshida’s  Heroisms’, ‘ Kamoshida’s  Law’...”

Skull tipped his head.  “Yeah so?”

Joker stated, “One of these books are called the ‘King’s book’.”  Without any further provocation, he took the book and placed it in the slot.  Ebony looked around and led them to another shelf.  The books on either side of it seemed to have some random names, but more than one of them had  Talliya’s  name in the title.

Joker glanced at Ebony.  “The Queen’s book?”

Ebony nodded.  After putting that book in as well, they went to the last one.

Skull gritted his teeth.  “All volleyball team names... and... what!?  Me?  Ryuji Sakamoto: The Vulgar Ape.  That bastard!”

Mona laughed, “There’s one for Skull.”

Joker placed the last book, the Slave book, in that slot.

Now that all the books were placed in the correct slots, a wall shifted on the far end of the room, opening up into a completely separate room.  There were candles that lined a  red carpet  path to a far wall covered in pictures.

Mona called, “Good work, Joker!  Let’s look inside!”

They made their way into the other room and as soon as they did, Ebony found her feet coming to a stop.  All of the images that were posted around the room were of  Talliya  and herself, Asa.

Skull’s hands clenched into fists and he snarled.  “What the actual hell?  This sick fucking bastard...!  What is this!?”

“Some sort of shrine?”  Ebony questioned.  She took a mental note of how irate that Skull was getting.  He was gung-ho but she didn’t think he would get so worked up if he didn’t have personal involvement.  However, what she was expecting even less was Joker to suddenly rush forward with his knife drawn.  She grabbed him by his jacket and yanked him back, away from the wall.  She shouted at him, “Joker, calm down!”

Joker snarled, “He raped them! And now he has a shrine to it like it’s an accomplishment!?”

Ebony hissed in his ear.  “I understand how you feel but save your energy!  There is nothing to do about what’s here!  This is just cognition!  Save your energy for stealing his treasure and getting the fuck  outta  here.”

Joker gritted his teeth, his hand shaking with rage.

While Ebony continued to hold Joker back, her gaze drifted over and saw that on the shelf against the wall, she could see what looked like another piece of map and an object that looked like it might fit the keyhole.  She flicked her head, “Mona.”

Mo na  jumped over and picked it up.  “This definitely fits that door, good eye Ebony!”

Ebony pulled a  resistent  Joker out of the library and they made their way back to the door.  Skull placed the medal in it and this time when they pulled the chain, the bars opened right up.

“This is perfect.”  Mona stated.  “This must be the way to advance.”

Skull glanced at Joker and then stated, “I think it might be wise if we stop here.  I think we’re all exhausted and frustrated.  With this new map, we can meet up in the real world and plan our advances.”  He turned to Ebony.  “You should join us.”

Ebony shook her head.  “Sorry.  I’m pretty busy outside the Metaverse.  I’ll assist you guys here, but that’s it.”

Skull scoffed, “How shady.”  Turning back to Joker, he asked, “What do you say, man?”

Joker nodded.  “Yeah.  Let’s return.”

Evening

Akira felt his heart jump right up into his throat when he saw a text message asking him to come to the door of the  cafe .  He didn’t even question if something was wrong, but his feet sent him flying to the door.  He had just opened it when Asa leapt through and wrapped her arms around his neck, jumping right into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.  He didn’t know what was going on, but he wasn’t about to let her go.  He was thankful that the shop had just closed so it was only the two of them.

He tipped his head just in time for her to lean up and kiss him passionately.  Her lips were almost trembling on his and he was terrified for whatever happened that had upset her.  He shouldn’t have left her alone.  He should have gone with her this evening to - 

“I’m sorry.”  She whispered finally.  “For scaring you.  Nothing’s wrong.  I can’t explain it... I just... needed to be here and kiss you.”

His eyes widened behind his glasses.  “That’s it?”

She nodded and pressed her face to his chest.  “It just... it suddenly felt... painful...to not be with you...and this feeling came over me...That I needed to kiss you like there was no tomorrow.”

He smiled at her words and cupped her soft cheek, lifting her head back up to him and kissing her several times, over and over.  He brushed her bangs back as he gently walked her over to the nearest booth and sat down on the edge, pulling her down into his lap.  He crossed his arms behind her, against her lower back as he looked up at her and stated, “I was worried something had happened while I was gone.”

Asa’s forehead rested on his as her thumb traced his lower lip.  “Yeah... there was something that happened... I missed you.”

His gaze softened behind his glasses and he tipped his head, kissing her palm and telling her, “I couldn’t get you off my mind, Asa...”

She tipped her head back in and kissed him several times.  Every touch of their lips felt like a drug that she couldn’t get enough of.  Her hands slid to either side of his neck, her thumbs brushing his jaw and she quietly asked, “Is it even healthy to be this in love?  I feel like I’m going insane.”

“I don’t care if it’s healthy or not.”  He told her sincerely.  “I don’t care about anything except you...”  He leaned forward, his head resting against her chest as her face nuzzled into his hair.  Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, her fingers sliding through his curly locks.  “You came  all this way so late at night,  A s a . . . d o y o u w a n t t o s t a y h e r e t o n i g h t ? ”

“Will  Sojiro be upset?”  A s a a s k e d .

“I don’t think so...” Akira answere d.  “I think he likes you.”

“I wouldn’t care if he likes me except that it means I get to see you more...so...” Asa’s words drifted away as Akira tipped his head up, his lips skimming her skin and sending shivers along her spine.  When his lips finally reached hers again, she eagerly kissed him back, entranced by the smooth way his lips caressed her own.  As he distracted her with his sweet kisses, he slid his hands down, cupping her thighs and lifting her up, carrying her across the café and up the stairs to his shitty little room.  He gently laid her down on the bed and he sat up, adjusting his glasses and he looked down at her affectionately.  

He asked her, “Do you want to borrow more comfortable clothes again?”

She nodded her head and sat up, watching as he dug through his box of clothes once again.  She looked around the dusty attic and suggested, “We should really spend some time cleaning this place out.”

Akira walked back over and handed her his shirt and stated, “I should.  You don’t need to help me.  You’re busy enough.”

Asa tipped her head, her  blue black  curls bouncing as she smiled back at him.  “I’m not too busy for you.”

“For cleaning for me, you are.”  He chuckled for a moment before he quickly looked away as Asa pulled her own shirt up and off.  His face turned bright red and he occupied himself with wiggling the weak, almost busted shelf back and forth.  Noticing, Asa gave a soft giggle and asked, “What’s with that?  You saw me before...”

He swallowed hard and stuttered, “That was...an unusual circumstance...”

Asa’s smile grew.  “You’re such a gentleman.”  Once she had his shirt pulled on, she stood and pulled her jeans off, setting them and her shirt on the desk near his bed before walking back over to him.  She pressed her face between his shoulder blades and wrapped her arms tightly around him.  “I wouldn’t mind, you know...I only want you to see me... Akira...”

All the blood drained from Akira’s face and he shifted uneasily for a moment before he slowly turned.  He cupped her face and kissed her again...and again...and again.  Each gentle touch of his lips made her heart jump and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could stay sane.  She realized he backed her up to the bed and she dropped down on his tiny little twin sized mattress and looked up at him again.  Her eyes sparkled and it captivated him.

He whispered softly, “I promise... I will be the only one to ever see you that way again.”

She leaned back on her hands and teased, “That sounds like forever, Akira.”

“It is.”  He assured.  He turned his back to her and started unbuttoning his jacket as he carried on, “There’s something else.  I’m only telling you this because I don’t want there to ever be secrets between us.  And so that you don’t hear from someone else.”

Asa paused.  “Okay.”

“In the metaverse...there’s this woman who’s been helping us.  You didn’t have the pleasure of meeting her.  But she’s...not  very  understanding of boundaries and she seems particularly interested in me.”  Akira explained.

Asa brushed her hair behind her ear and giggled, “Oh?  Do I have myself a love rival?”

Akira pulled his shirt off and glanced back at her over his shoulder.  “You...don’t sound concerned at all.”

Asa crossed her legs and tucked her hands between them.  “Is she pretty?  Do you like her?”

Akira shook his head and finished changing, his face flushed knowing she was watching him without reserve.  He answered honestly, “Of course she’s pretty.  But... I can’t get you out of my head long enough to even consider having any feelings for her.  Every time she’s put her hands on me...I immediately think of you and I have to pull away.”

Asa’s crimson eyes shimmered, remembering the feelings that had come over her in the metaverse – that had made her want to rush over here and kiss him so desperately.  The words he said so casually that filled her with so much happiness.  She scooted back on the bed and laid down, waiting for him to come join.  She confirmed, “I trust you.  I trust your feelings for me are the same as mine for you.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel possessive if another woman laid their hands on you... but...I’m not upset...as long as your words are true that you only ever think of me...”

He climbed down into bed with her, kissing her again as he laid down and promised, “I swear... only you, Asa.”

He laid on down and pulled his glasses off, setting them on the windowsill passed her as the two of them snuggled in close – still wasn’t a choice considering the bed was so small.  Her head rested on his chest and her fingers numbly walked along his torso, tracing the  divets  of his muscles.  She whispered, “I... have a confession too...”

“Of course.”  He agreed.

“I have a secret I haven’t told you...”  Asa confirmed.  “I. ..I’m  not ready to tell you.  I’m... scared.  But... I will tell you eventually.  I promise.  I don’t want there to be secrets either... but...I’m just... not ready... to reveal this one.”

His gaze softened and he nuzzled his head into her hair.  He asked, “Is your secret that you love someone else?”

Her eyes flew open and she sat up and gasped, “No!  Of course not!”

He chuckled quietly and his black eyes simmered as he gave her the most affectionate, loving smile and assured, “Then take your time, Asa.  But no new secrets okay?  I don’t want you to be scared of telling me anything.  I’ll keep building your trust in me... so one day you can feel comfortable telling me any secret in your closet.”

Her crimson gaze shimmered.  “I love you... so much, Akira...”


End file.
